The Fate Of Our World
by randompandattack
Summary: After being falsely accused of killing Hinata, Naruto is banished from Konoha. However he doesn't go alone, he takes a few friends with him and eventually they end up in the world of avatar. The Gaang won't know what hit them! Part 1 complete
1. Banishment

**A/N: Wow this was the longest chapter I've ever written, before I get into anything I'm just going to say I needed to get them to a certain point and that's why this chapter is so long. The next one probably won't be so long. Also this first chapter doesn't have anything to do with Avatar yet, it'll be a little while till we get to that point. The beginning's kinda long to show how Naruto gets kicked out. The first part with Neji was actually another fic i was going to write combined into this one. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm bashing any of the characters, sorry if you think Neji or Sakura is OOC. I don't have a beta, sorry for any mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, this is probably the only time in this fic that i'll say that.**

**Summary: After being falsely accused of murdering Hyuga ninja Naruto is banished from the village. He doesn't go alone though as he brings along some friends. After a while they board a boat that takes them to the ATLA world and meet Aang and friends.**

**Pairings (along with who's in the fic):**

**NarutoxAmaru**

**SasukexMai**

**Rock Leex Tai Lee**

**ShinoxTenten**

**GaaraxAzula**

**AangxToph**

**ZukoxKatara**

**SokkaxSuki**

**_The Fate of our World_**

It was a chilly night in Konoha as one Naruto Uzumaki strolled down the street. He wasn't heading anywhere particular, merely attempting to end his boredom by taking a walk. It was the night after the third hokage's funeral so the streets were empty and quiet. The silence almost seemed spooky to young Naruto.

The blonde continued walking aimlessly until unknowingly he found himself walking past the Hyuga compound. He was broken out of his daze by the sound of a female scream from within. He jumped up in surprise, so taken back by the broken silence that it took him a moment to realize he knew that voice. He had heard it scream out a mere month ago for it was the voice of young Hinata Hyuga.

Snapping into action he jumped over the stone wall separating the compound from the town and landed on the grass. He instantly recognized the smell of death and noticed the bodies of multiple guards that had the unfortunate duty of patrolling that night. He quickly pulled out a kunai and crouched into a defensive position.

Scanning the area and realizing there were no visible enemies he made a shadow clone. Before he could formulate a plan he heard another scream come from the second floor window. He immediately sent his clone over there while he climbed the nearest tree.

The clone crashed through the window with all the subtlety of a cement truck while the real Naruto watched on from the tree. The clone's eyes lit up in surprise at what he saw before him. The room was a wreck, furniture thrown all about and covered in blood.

In front of Naruto was Neji with his back turned to him facing Hinata. Hinata was breathing heavily and bleeding from multiple wounds. On the ground to the side lying face up was Hinata's father, Hiashi. His neck was snapped and blood leaked from the side of his mouth.

Naruto took all this in during a mere moment and it took even less time for Neji to turn around and face him. "Naruto!" Neji called out in surprise, he had hoped no one would hear Hinata's scream, especially not Naruto.

"Naruto," Hinata yelled out. "Run away! Get help but make sure you get away!" Hinata loved Naruto and as much as she wanted him to save her she was more concerned with his safety than her own.

"Hinata, Neji, what's going on?" Naruto of course knew what it looked like but was too trusting of people to accept what was happening.

"Hello Naruto," Neji said politely. "I'm defying my destiny, just like you told me to. You were right, I had to break free and now I am."

"What the hell are you talking about? I told you not to be controlled by the Hyuga mentality, not to kill people!"

Neji frowned, "And I won't be controlled by them anymore Naruto. I was able to avenge my father and end the slavery that is the house of Hyuga!"

"But why are you trying to kill Hinata? What did she ever do to you?" Naruto tried to reason with Neji, hoping he could at least save Hinata's life. But Neji was in no mood to tell Naruto his story right now. Though he couldn't help it running through his mind as Naruto questioned him…

_*Flashback*_

Like the rest of the Konoha ninja, during the attack by Orochimaru only a few days prior Neji was engaged in combat with sound ninja. Though tired from his recent fight with Naruto, Neji wasn't going to stand around while his village was attacked. He was currently fighting off two at once, back to back.

He had already sealed off the chakra points off one when a third came up behind him with extreme subtlety and landed a kick straight to the back of his head. Neji hit the ground but used the opportunity to kick at his opponents' legs and then stand back up. What he hadn't noticed in the heat of battle was his headband had been knocked off by the kick.

Fighting off three enemies at once was much harder than two and Neji realized he would lose if he didn't do something quick. It was then that Neji noticed his team leader Gai running towards him. "Need some help Neji?" He asked as he landed a mighty kick on two of Neji's opponents.

Neji nodded his thanks as he fought the third sound ninja while Gai took on the other two. The Hyuga was quick to dispose of his opponent but when he turned to help Gai he noticed one of the two sound ninja were gone. He heard a noise behind him and turned around as quickly as he could to discover the sound ninja slashing at him with a kunai.

Neji leaned back to avoid the kunai at the last second but unfortunately it wasn't enough and the blade slashed across his forehead leaving a deep gash. It had hit right over his tattoo and suddenly Neji's body was wracked in pain. He screamed out in pain moments before passing out.

The next day Neji awoke in a hospital bed with a large bandage over his forehead. The battle was over, Konoha had been victorious but at the price of the third Hokage's life. Neji had little interaction with the man but this depressed him none the less.

Realizing nothing was broken Neji got out of his bed and headed into the nearest bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror above the sink and unraveled the bandage over his forehead. What he saw astounded him. The Hyuga tattoo that branded him to the second house and forever making him the slave of the main house of Hyuga was gone! Instead there was a large scar mark where the Kunai had slashed him.

Neji ran his hands over it. He couldn't believe it, for a while he just stared wide-eyed into the mirror amazed. "I'm free…" He uttered it out loud, hoping it would make it seem more real. The fatalistic boy wondered what he should do now that he was free. He thought that Naruto or Lee would probably start jumping up and down but Neji wasn't like that. He was a Hyuga.

It was then that he realized the horrible truth. If the main house found out they would either brand him with another one or even execute him for betrayal. He sighed deeply as he realized as long as the main branch was there he would never be free. Then it hit him: get rid of the main branch. Kill Hiashi, not only would he be free but it would avenge his father. He never believed that BS story Hiashi had told him about his father volunteering to die; and even if it was true it didn't change the facts.

Realizing what he had to do Neji retied his forehead protector to make sure no one would notice his tattoo was gone and left the hospital. He went home and devised a plan on how he would avenge his father. On the day of the third's funeral Neji's plans were complete and he waited until nightfall to strike.

The outside guards had been easy, nothing compared to his strength. He made his way through the mansion with little opposition. He made his way to Hiashi's room quickly and when he entered he didn't waste time talking. He made use of his uncle's surprise and attacked.

Hiashi was a strong ninja, to lead the Hyuga he had to be. Unfortunately for him Neji was not only in his prime but also a genius. Though Hiashi had fought back it was ultimately no use as Neji sealed his chakra points and beat him to the ground. Neji had one hand on each side of his uncle's head as one word whispered out of the man's mouth, "Why?"

"Justice."

And then Neji swiftly and without mercy snapped the leader of the Hyuga's neck. He let go and the body fell to the floor unceremoniously. "It is over, I am free…" Neji took a deep breath, however before he could fully enjoy his victory the door cracked open and Hinata meekly wandered in.

"Father?" She whispered before her eyes lit up as she saw Hiash's body on the floor. "Oh my gosh!" One of her hands covered her mouth. "Neji?" She pleaded, wishing he would tell her what she was looking at wasn't true.

"Hinata…" Neji uttered as he tried to figure out what he should do now. Hinata didn't have anything to do with this, did she? But she was the daughter of the main house and thus may have been taught how to seal a member of the second house. Coming to the conclusion that his freedom might still be in danger Neji attacked the girl.

_*End Flashback*_

"I don't have time to play twenty questions with you Naruto." Neji told Naruto as he clenched the Kunai in his hand tighter. "Just stay the hell out of my way!" He yelled as he slammed his fist into Naruto. The shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke; though Neji knew enough of Naruto to not be surprised by this.

Not wanting to fight off two genin at once Neji lunged straight for Hinata while Naruto jumped from the tree through the window into the room. Hinata was low on blood and barely had the strength left to stand up, much less defend herself. It was only too easy for Neji to slash his kunai across Hinata's neck and watch as dark red blood splashed out.

"No!" Naruto yelled out. He had jumped in as fast as he could but he couldn't make it in time to save her. He watched her body fall limp to the ground as her blood stained the floor red. Hinata Hyuga's last thoughts were: _I hope Naruto will be okay…_

Naruto ran over and flipped Hinata carefully over onto her back, but it was too late. She was already dead. He turned back to face Neji, "Why? Why did you do it? Hinata never did anything to you! She was a nice, shy girl who never hurt anyone!"

Without Naruto even noticing it red chakra was seeping throughout his body. "SHE DIDN"T DESERVE THIS!" Naruto screamed at Neji. At this point Neji's eyes were wide in shock as two of the Kyuubi's tails were visible outside of Naruto's body. Naruto lunged at Neji with inhuman speed, catching him completely unaware.

Naruto's fist appeared in front of Neji's face milliseconds before it slammed into it, breaking his jaw and knocking him through the wall. Neji crashed out of the wall and fell onto the grass below. Before the Hyuga genius could stand back up Naruto had jumped down and drop-kicked Neji in the stomach.

Neji let out a scream of pain that went ignored by Naruto as he started punching the boy repeatedly in the face. "WHY? WHY?" He continued to scream, no longer in control of his own body. All he could see was red until he realized Neji was no longer screaming or trying to fight back. The blonde blinked a few times until he knew that Neji was dead. Naruto realized he was crying and that all his rage had left him with only sadness.

Looking around it become painfully obvious that he was no longer alone. Other ninja and ANBU were staring in horror at the container of the Kyuubi. They had seen what had happened. Before Naruto could say anything however two ANBU agents grabbed him by the arms and knocked him unconscious before fleeing the scene.

Naruto woke up hours later in a dark room that resembled a courtroom, but instead of one judge there were a bunch of old people Naruto recognized as the council of elders. His head was throbbing and his hands and feet were in shackles. He then remembered what had happened only hours earlier and he suddenly felt sick.

"Naruto Uzumaki," The old man in the middle said, breaking the silence. "You are charged with murdering Hiashi, Hinata and Neji Hyuga along with several Hyuga guards. You are also charged with unleashing the powers of the Kyuubi to help you accomplish your evil deeds knowing full well the danger you put Konoha in. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Wait that's not what happened!" Naruto pleaded, "I didn't kill all those people I swear! Neji did, I killed him after he killed Hinata!" At this the council laughed at him evilly and ridiculing him.

"A likely excuse."

"Why would Neji kill his own clan? Ridiculous!"

"Next time you have to lie to a council try something a little more believable monster!"

Naruto was stunned; they didn't even consider what he was saying! "No…it's true. I don't know why but…" His excuse was cut off.

"You have been found guilty of all charges Naruto; you are hereby sentenced to death!" The old man told him as he slammed down his gavel. Naruto continued pleading as the guards started to drag him away. However before they could pull him out of the room the door opened and Jiraiya walked in.

"Stop, Naruto is innocent! I have gathered several witnesses who can testify to Naruto's innocence."

"Nuts to your witnesses Jiraiya!" An old woman whose eyes were always closed yelled at him. "We finally got something on the monster and this time he's not getting out of it!"

Jiraiya took a deep breath; he had feared this might happen. "If you won't listen to reason then at least listen to this: if you kill Naruto in his current state you might unleash the Kyuubi back upon Konoha." A murmur ran through the council as they heard this startling revelation.

A few minutes passed as the elders discussed this quietly between each other before the oldest of the elders finally spoke up. "For the sake of preserving the peace of our village," Jiraiya snorted at this. "…We have decided that Naruto will instead be banished from Konoha forever. He has twenty-four hours to get out of the village. We will also make an announcement to the village that he is the murderer and reveal to those that don't know that he is the Kyuubi's vessel. This court is dismissed!"

At that the gavel was banged and the council walked out. The two guards released Naruto from the shackles on his feet and arms. Naruto rubbed his wrists and looked around confused until he saw Jiraiya motioning for him to come over.

"I'm sorry Naruto," The toad sage told the boy as he walked over to him. "I tried my best but with the third gone the council holds all the power now."

"Pervy sage, am I really banished?"

"I'm sorry Naruto," Jiraiya answered him, lowering his head.

"B-But I was going to be Hokage! What do I do now?"

"The only thing you can do now Naruto is get your stuff, say goodbye to your friends and leave…" Naruto saw no lie in his teacher's eyes and was forced to accept the grim reality. He nodded and walked out of the room to find it was early the next morning.

Before he could head home however he heard the sound of voices yelling out at the people. Naruto jumped onto a nearby building to get a better look and noticed it was the councilmen that were shouting. They were all gathered around different parts of the town and were surrounded by people who had gathered to listen to their announcement.

"People of Konoha!" The one nearest Naruto's position yelled out. "A terrible tragedy occurred late last night. Members of the Hyuga clan including Hiashi its leader were murdered by the demon boy Naruto Uzumaki!" At this the people let out shouts of shock and anger.

"Make no mistake villagers, it is true! For his crime he has been banished from Konoha forever! He will no longer plague our wonderful village with his demon infested body any longer."

"To those of you not aware twelve years ago our great fourth Hokage gave his life sealing the Kyuubi inside Naruto's body. Now the demon is in control of his body and trying to escape. We do not tell you this to frighten you, but because you need to know what he is capable of. Do not think of him as a mere child, for he is not!"

At this Naruto sighed and headed home. He knew by now everyone would hate him and he had no choice but to get his stuff and leave and hope to avoid any angry mobs that would be forming.

However when he reached his apartment he noticed the door was blocked by his best friend Sasuke Uchiha. When Naruto came closer Sasuke unfolded his arms and walked over to him. "Sasuke, it wasn't me I swear." Naruto hoped to get at least someone to believe him. "It was Neji he did it, I was just stopping him, you got to believe me!"

"Calm down dope, obviously I believe you."

"W-What?" Naruto asked, utterly bamboozled. "You do?"

"Duh, anyone that knows anything about you should believe you. Why the hell would you kill Hinata? Ridiculous."

"Yeah," Naruto gave a short laugh. He opened the door to his apartment and the two walked in. Sasuke sat on the old couch while Naruto started looking for his backpack. "I'm really glad someone believes me Sasuke. Not that it matters since they're banishing me…"

"Yeah about that, I'm coming with you." Sasuke told him, as if it was a small matter over food or who was stronger.

"Huh? No Sasuke you can't do that!"

"Sure I can, there's nothing in this village for me anyway."

"But…why? No one here hates you, no one's making you leave!"

Sasuke shrugged, "The only thing I care about is killing my brother. I don't need to remain here any longer when I can go with you and get even stronger." Sasuke didn't say it but Naruto was the only person Sasuke considered a friend and he wasn't just going to let them kick him out.

Naruto continued emptying drawers and putting things he could use in his pack. "Wow thanks Sasuke that means a lot to me. Hey maybe Sakura will come with us?"

Sasuke scowled, "I doubt it." Naruto asked why, "Go ask her yourself if you don't believe me." The blonde decided to finish packing later and he and Sasuke went to find Sakura. However before they found her Kakashi suddenly appeared right in front of them.

"Hello Naruto, Sasuke." Sasuke didn't bother to reply, however Naruto was ready to convince another person of his story and jumped right in. However before he could list off his apologies Kakashi interrupted him.

"Don't bother Naruto I know you didn't do it."

"So you believe me then?" Naruto asked not realizing he hadn't actually told Kakashi anything.

The white-haired man nodded, "I just came to confirm something about Sasuke. It looks like I was right, well anyway I'm sorry this will be the last time we'll get to see each other again. I wish you both luck, it's a hard world out there." And at that Kakashi vanished again, leaving Naruto confused.

The two genin continued walking through the village until they came to team seven's training ground. Sakura was standing there with her arms folded looking rather mad. When she saw Sasuke and Naruto walking over to her she ran up to them.

"Naruto you bastard!" Sakura yelled before punching Naruto hard in the stomach. "I can't believe you killed Hinata and Neji! And you're a monster, that doesn't surprise me," She screamed as she continued to beat the blonde up.

"No wait Sakura," Naruto said in between getting punched. "It's not true I didn't kill Hinata! Tell her Sasuke."

Sasuke looked around bored, "Naruto's telling the truth."

"Oh no Sasuke," Sakura stopped hurting Naruto and ran over to Sasuke. "Naruto's tricked you, hasn't he? That monster! Well don't worry just come with me and I'll make you all better!" She said batting her eyelashes.

"Piss off," The black-haired teen said as he pushed her off of him. He then grabbed Naruto by the arm and jumped off into the trees to escape the pink-haired girl. He ran them over to a nearby deserted park and dropped Naruto carelessly on his head.

"Told you dope."

Naruto rubbed the top of his head. "S-Shut up. Man, I can't believe Sakura doesn't believe me!" Naruto pouted.

"Why do you like her anyway?" Sasuke managed the curiosity to ask.

"Well she's really pretty and when we were kids she was nice to me once."

"Once? A lot of girls are nice to you now after seeing you in the chuunin exams; why pick Sakura?"

It took Naruto a minute to answer; he seemed to be thinking deeply. Something he didn't do often. "I guess you're right, I mean she does beat me up a lot. And she is kind of a bitch. Maybe it's better this way that she doesn't believe me. Sasuke agreed but left Naruto alone after informing him he needed to start packing.

Naruto decided to go say goodbye to the nice people at the ramen stand who always treated him right. They believed him instantly and were very sorry to hear he had to go but wished him well. After he wished them goodbye he ran into two familiar faces.

It was Rock Lee and Tenten. Tenten was looking at Naruto warily and Lee was leaning on his crutch. Before he could greet them Lee enveloped him in a hug. "Naruto I must ask forgiveness for Neji's behavior! And also for not knowing about your condition, it is certainly most un-youthful."

Naruto looked confused, "You know the truth? You believe me bushy-brows?"

Lee nodded, "Your wonderful sensei Kakashi told me and Tenten the truth. I could hardly believe my ears!"

Lee might have been crying but Tenten had a frown chiseled into her face. "I can't believe it, why would Neji kill Hinata? I mean yeah he doesn't like her, but kill her? That seems a bit much! Or why would the village lie to us all if what you're saying is true?"

Naruto did his best to describe what had happened to the two. By the end Lee was in tears and Tenten seemed to believe him a bit more. "Naruto I volunteer to join you and Sasuke in your banishment! I can no longer stand to make such a horrible place my home!"

"That means a lot to me Lee but there's kind of a problem…" Naruto pointed to Lee's broken leg.

"Oh of course, I would slow you all down immensely. Not to mention I'm no longer useful as a ninja, I understand…" However Lee looked extremely depressed.

"But wait Lee," Tenten interjected. "Isn't Jiraiya going to get Lady Tsunade to fix your leg? Then you could go."

"Yes that is true, but Naruto has to leave now, he can't wait around for me."

"Well how bout this bushy-brows," Naruto said as an idea came to him. "You stay here and wait while Sasuke and I find Tsunade and send her to Konoha to fix your leg. Once you're healed you can come and find us."

"That is a great idea Naruto!" Lee said, displaying a sparkling smile.

Tenten sighed. "Well Neji's dead, Lee's going with you Naruto, there's nothing left for me here. I always wanted to see the world…I guess I'll come too." This announcement excited Rock Lee so much he tried to do pushups again until Tenten stopped him. Naruto was just glad he wouldn't be banished alone.

The made a plan that Tenten would also stay behind with Lee gathering supplies and information until Tsunade fixed Lee's leg and then they would set off together. Both agreed to see Naruto and Sasuke off early the next morning.

The boy in the orange jumpsuit finally made it home and after a bowl of ramen he finished his packing quickly. Before he went to sleep in his bed for the last time he heard a knock on his window. Opening it a blue bird flew in with a message tied to its leg. Naruto unrolled the message and read while the bird flew back out the window.

_Naruto I've found someone that wants to come with us. He's strong and will be useful so I let him come. I'll meet you at the gate tomorrow morning at five A.M. and he'll be there. –Sasuke _

Naruto was astounded to learn he had another companion for his journey, and a bit mad that Sasuke had invited him without telling Naruto first. After making sure everything was ready Naruto fell into a dreamless sleep.

When Naruto arrived at the gates of Konoha the next morning he was the last one there. Sasuke was leaning against a wall looking bored. He was wearing the same outfit he wore when he fought Gaara and was carrying a backpack.

Tenten and Rock Lee were also there, Lee looked excited even though he wasn't going and Tenten just looked sleepy. Beside those two was Sasuke's mysterious person he invited, which it turned out, was Shino.

Naruto had little experience with Shino but from what he did know Shino was a mysterious guy. However he seemed nice enough for a guy who's body was filled with bugs. He was dressed in his normal outfit and also had a backpack on.

"Hey guys," Naruto greeted them. "Sorry I'm late." He was wearing a slightly different outfit today where his orange pants were shorts and his orange jacket was sleeveless revealing the blue shirt underneath **(A/N: the outfit he wore in the 3rd movie).**

"Naruto you are late!" Lee told him energetically. "If you were me, Gai-sensei would've made you run ten laps!"

"You have to be out of the village in twenty minutes dope, are you stupid or what?" Sasuke asked, completely ignoring Lee.

"Shut up Sasuke, I got here didn't I?" Naruto turned to Shino, "So Shino I guess you're coming too?"

"Yes, I will be joining you."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you, however I will say that I believe that you didn't kill Hinata. Hinata was my only friend and I am sad that she's gone."

Naruto nodded, "I miss her too. But hey, isn't Kiba your friend?"

"No, I hate Kiba." Naruto looked confused but just nodded again.

"Anyway Sasuke, Tenten and Lee are going to come with us after we find Tsunade and have her heal Lee's legs."

"Yeah whatever, let's just get the hell out of here." Sasuke told him and without waiting for a reply he started running into the forest. Naruto and Shino followed him while Lee waved goodbye vigorously. Their journey was just beginning, they had no idea their leaving would help shape the fate of their world.

**A/N: Please review and tell me what you think, can't be too hard to write a few sentences after I wrote almost 5000 words lol. **


	2. Running from the law

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long to get a 2nd chapter out. I don't have a good excuse like my house burning down or a relative dying. Just writers block, depression, etc. Thanks for all the reviews i got. Anyway i hope to get chapters out alot faster from now on. R&R**

The fate of our world chapter 2

"This is far enough from Konoha," Sasuke told the other two as they reached a clearing in the forest. "We need to decide where we're going instead of wandering around aimlessly." He jumped down from the branch onto the soft dirt safely as his companions did the same.

Judging from the position of the sun Sasuke calculated it to be around noon. They'd been running for a few hours and had gotten far enough away from Konoha to be safe, but they needed a plan before continuing any further. And maybe some lunch.

"Finally," Naruto exclaimed as he opened his pack and pulled out some rice balls. "I'm starving!" He then proceeded to devour them without a thought or care.

"You dope, we have no idea when we're going to be able to get more food so don't eat it all now!" Sasuke sighed and wondered if this was a good idea after all.

"Hunger is the thinking man's natural enemy," Shino stated before pulling out some of his own food (though a rationed amount).

"Yeah whatever," Naruto said with food in his mouth. "Anyway there's something important we need to do now that we've left."

"What?"

Naruto untied his headband off his head and held it out for them to see. "We have to make it official, prove we're missing-nin." The blonde pulled out a kunai and slashed across his headband sideways. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Shino said nothing as he and Sasuke did the same to their headbands.

"What we need to do," Sasuke started. "Is decide what were going to do now."

"I thought I told you Sasuke. We have to find some old woman named "Tsunade" and get her to come back to Konoha to heal Lee's arm and leg."

Sasuke sighed, "Okay…but where is she?" Naruto blinked a few times.

"Do you have any clues to her whereabouts Naruto?" Shino asked.

"Actually guys I have no idea where she is," He laughed uncomfortably as he scratched the back of his head.

"So let me get this straight: we're supposed to find some old woman who could be anywhere? Do we even know what she looks like?"

"Umm…." Naruto stuttered, he was starting to see the holes in his plan. However before Sasuke could complain again Shino interrupted.

"Don't worry Sasuke, I've researched the three Sannin before so I know the general appearance of Tsunade." Sasuke nodded his head, silently telling him to go on. "She can change her appearance at will so she'll probably be relatively young. She has blonde hair in a sort of pigtail fashion and a red mark on her forehead."

"…And don't worry Sasuke, Jiraiya said she'd be in the fire country at least. So our search just got a lot smaller!" Naruto said, trying to be helpful.

"Whatever…"

Otafuku Gai was neither the richest nor poorest city in the fire country. Not the biggest or the smallest. It was located relatively close to Konoha; though rarely visited by ninjas. Its name means "homely woman town", a reference to its Fun Fun street Kanrakugai. This is the first town Naruto, Sasuke and Shino found themselves in as they searched for Tsunade.

"Our first stop…" Shino said as they quietly walked into town unnoticed. "…Should be the casinos. Sannin Tsunade is an infamous gambler."

Naruto looked up and down the boulevard they were on. "But which one? This town is covered in casinos and love hotels!"

Sasuke's eyes darted back and forth as he quickly calculated how many casinos there were. "We'll have to split up. I'll take uptown, Shino takes downtown and Naruto you look through all the rest. But try to not cause a scene; we don't want anyone to know three missing-nin are searching through their town. Meet back here at dusk."

The other two nodded and silently slipped into the crowd unnoticed. Naruto zigzagged past the street carts, outdoor shops, tourists and prostitutes until he found a casino by the name of "Bingo!". Naruto secretly thought this was a horrible name for a casino but walked in anyway.

The ceiling was low and the room was long and smelled of greed. Blinking lights from colored machines filled the room and about half of them were occupied. Remembering Shino's description Naruto started to look around. There were many different adults there: fat, short, ugly, tall; but none that matched Shino's description.

Knowing he had to take this seriously and not just give up so easily, Naruto headed for the counter. A balding man stared bored at a newspaper with a cigarette lodged between his fingers. His uniform seemed unclean and his face unshaven. Naruto rang the golden-colored bell on the counter. The man didn't even look up, he just pointed at a sign on the corner of the counter. Naruto glanced at it briefly to see it read "Adults 18+ only, no kids!".

Naruto growled angrily and started ringing the bell over and over again. The man set his paper down and yelled angrily at Naruto, "What the hell do you want kid? This ain't no place for you to play!"

"I'm looking for someone old man," Naruto yelled back, not intimidated at all. "Have you seen her?" He then described Tsunade to the man.

The man took a minute to ponder it over, or at least Naruto hoped that was what he was doing. "Sorry, don't know her. Hundreds of people come through here every week; I can't remember everyone's faces unless they're a regular."

Naruto sighed, "Thanks anyway." He hadn't expected it to be that easy anyway. He left the casino and continued finding casino after casino; hoping that the next one would have the person he was looking for in it.

The sun was low in the sky as Naruto headed back to the spot on the boulevard they agreed to meet back at. Naruto had just finished his last stop and though he failed to find any info on Tsunade he was glad that he was at least done with that. Sasuke was already waiting; sitting on a plastic chair staring bored into an ice cream cone he was holding.

"Your late," He greeted Naruto; not even bothering to look up from the ice cream.

Naruto did a quick double-take, "No I'm not! Shino isn't even here yet."

"You're still late."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever, where'd you get the ice cream?"

Sasuke popped the last bit into his mouth and chewed. "I finished early and while I was sitting here waiting for you some girl came over and just gave it to me for free." He shrugged as if it happened all the time. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he wondered how Sasuke managed to get girls so very easily.

While the blonde wondered this a small pebble no bigger than his knuckle hit him in the back of his head. "Oww! What the hell was that?" Before Sasuke could ask what happened, a small bug landed on his hand.

"Shino," He stated as his eyes darted over his surroundings. "There Naruto!" He pointed to the top of a nearly building where an outline of Shino was barely visible. Without drawing attention to themselves the two shinobi quickly walked over to the nearby alley. Making sure they were alone they wall jumped to the roof and found Shino crouched down, surrounded by his bugs.

"Shino, what is it?" Naruto asked.

"We have to get out of here now," The bug-controller whispered. Suddenly all three young ninja felt a wave of danger and without waiting for an explanation started to run. They lunged over rooftops and ran through abandoned alleys and didn't stop when they passed the city limits. They finally stopped a few miles outside the city in a grassy plain.

"We should be safe for now." Shino muttered as his bugs went back inside his body.

"What was it Shino?" Sasuke inquired.

"While checking the casinos I nearly ran across a group of ANBU."

"What did they want?" Naruto asked warily.

"I couldn't hear them from my location but I noticed they pinned up this wanted poster to a bulletin board." Shino unzipped one of his many pockets and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. Unrolling it he handed it to Naruto.

"They're after you Naruto," Shino continued. "They think you kidnapped Sasuke when you left and now there's a bounty on your head."

"Are you serious?" Naruto read the poster over as he bit his lip. "You are serious, shit!"

Sasuke grabbed the wanted poster out of Naruto's hands. His eyes flicked across the page before letting it fall to the ground. "Ridiculous," He uttered.

"Ridiculous or not Sasuke, this is serious. We weren't able to get any provisions and there's no way any of us can go back."

"Aww man," Naruto complained as all three of them heard his stomach gurgle. "I'm starving! What I wouldn't do for a bowl of ramen…"

"Let's focus on the task at hand," Sasuke said as he looked them in the eye. "Did any of us find Tsunade or any information on where she is?"

"I must have searched a hundred different casinos Sasuke," Naruto said completely exaggerating. "But none of them knew anything about her."

Sasuke nodded and turned his head to Shino to signify it was his turn. "My quest was also fruitless. All I found was an old man who Tsunade owed money to. He thought I was an acquaintance and tried to make me pay her tab." At this Naruto started laughing.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "The only thing I found out was she has a nickname in place like those. The call her 'The legendary sucker' or 'Legendary loser', the girl wasn't quite sure which."

"Don't worry guys," Naruto said encouragingly. "I'm sure we'll find her next time!"

"Either way, we shouldn't linger. We need to head to the next town." After a quick argument with Naruto about not stopping to eat the three ninja raced off into the night.

Two nights later Sasuke, Naruto and Shino found themselves sitting around a campfire in a dense forest. They were eating the last bits of their food; an amount nowhere near necessary to fill them up. Luckily the next town was close and they would reach it the next morning. However this did not stop Naruto from complaining.

"Oh man, what I'd do for a bowl of ramen…"He sighed as he twirled a shuriken between his fingers out of boredom.

"Shut up Naruto, I'm sick of listening to you whine about ramen." Sasuke said as he rubbed his forehead, trying to relieve his headache.

"Let's change the subject," Shino suggested. A few minutes passed in silence as Naruto's eyes couldn't decide what to stare at, Sasuke stared at his feet and Shino…well no one could tell with his sunglasses on.

"Oh, I was wondering," Naruto spoke up. "Why you decided to come with us. You didn't want to tell us before but I think we deserve to know, since you're traveling with us and everything."

"_Did he have to pick that subject?"_ Shino thought to himself. _"Debating with Naruto who's hotter between Sakura and Ino would've been better than this."_

"Okay Naruto, I'll tell you."

"Yay!"

Shino sighed. Sasuke rolled his eyes but even he looked up from his feet and turned to listen to what Shino had to say.

"I have an older sister named June. When I was younger she was an elite ANBU, highly skilled and powerful. She was not however a member of the Aburame clan; for she was conceived out of wedlock. She was either ignored or hated by most of my clan."

Shino grabbed a nearby tree branch and tossed it into the dying fire. "Regardless she always saw me as a little brother and cared for me. When I was with her I felt free, not held to the tight rules of my clan."

"But one day four years ago she was sent on a very dangerous mission; she would not tell me where. June didn't return for months and when she got back the first and last thing she did was report to the council. I don't know why but she was banished from Konoha." For a moment all was quiet. The only sounds that of the cackling fire and a nearby owl.

"She came and said goodbye to me, but she wouldn't tell me what happened. Everyone else in my clan was glad she was gone, except for me. I want to find her Naruto; I need to know what happened to my sister."

The blonde held his tongue for once as he searched for the right words. Finally he spoke up, "Thank you Shino, I think me and Sasuke understand you a bit better now." At this Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"…So, anybody know any ghost stories?" Naruto asked, however before he could get an answer the crunch of a tree branch twenty meters away alerted them to someone's presence. Not a moment later the swish of flying shuriken alerted them that their trap had been sprung.

Wasting no time Sasuke made three intricate hand gestures silently telling the other two of his plan. They nodded in agreement and carried out the plan silently.

The group coming up on them consisted of three jonin and two chunin. All highly trained but not elite, their mission was to kill the traitor Naruto and retrieve Sasuke Uchiha and Shino Aburame. The village elders were persistent in their need to control the last Uchiha and the Aburame clan wanted their heir back.

They silently came upon the missing-nin's camp site from above. One ninja to a tree they peered down on their unsuspecting targets. All three of them were sleeping soundly on the forest floor. Though they looked innocent enough the Konoha ninja knew it smelled of a trap.

After receiving a silent signal from their leader, three of the attackers threw a windmill shuriken at the unsuspecting sleepers. Each shuriken went right through the head however a moment later the bodies poofed and disappeared all together.

"They're not here!" The leader said stupidly. "Find them!" The five ninja quickly searched the surrounding area for any small clues to point them in the right direction. It did not take long for one of the jounin to notice a footprint going east.

Heading that direction he saw a few more clues. Convinced he had found them he signaled for the rest of his team. They ran as fast as the wind and as quiet as the night. In no time at all the Konoha ninja could make out the three forms they were looking for, running away. The leader signaled and the group spread out to encircle the three ninja.

Meanwhile running in the complete opposite direction of west was the real Naruto, Sasuke and Shino. After Naruto created the first three clones to look like them sleeping, he then created three more and had them run east. However he made sure the clones ran rather sloppy to make sure they were noticed.

"Can we stop running now?" Naruto asked.

Shino shook his head, "No, we cannot stop until we reach Crater city. Only there will we be safe."

"But couldn't we have taken those guys? Running away seems cowardly…"

Sasuke gritted his teeth, "They would have torn us apart Naruto. If we want to live, then we must run." The last Uchiha himself had wanted to fight, but his reason saw past his pride. Even if he thought his Chidori could've taken them apart…

The three continued to run at top speed; an hour later then saw the city rising up in the distance. The sun wouldn't be up for another few hours so it was still relatively dark. "Naruto," Sasuke broke the silence. "Check if they're following us."

Naruto nodded and made a clone all without breaking stride. The clone ran behind them but they had no time to watch it go. A few minutes passed before a shiver ran throughout Naruto's body. "They're following us. They might be ten minutes behind, but their faster than us…"

"As soon as were within the walls of the city split up and hide. Meet up two hours later on the rooftop of the biggest casino in the city." A few minutes passed in silence until they were right outside the city. Naruto took a quick glance behind them.

"Alright, go now!"

The rooftop of the largest casino in Crater city turned out to be rather small. Regardless, Sasuke, Naruto and Shino all managed to find it with little trouble. "Guys we have a problem," Naruto started. "The shinobi that were chasing us are still searching for us in the city. I had to hide in the sewer to make sure they didn't see me."

"Should we skip this city?" The bug user asked.

"No," Argued Sasuke. "She could be here. We just need to be careful. This city has fewer Casinos' than the last one so I'll go in to find her and you two stand guard."

"Aww geez, I don't want to stand guard." Naruto complained. "Don't forget we still need to get some food."

"We'll get some food afterwards, with only three we can't spread out too much." Not waiting for a reply Sasuke quietly jumped off the roof and landed softly. Acting inconspicuously he walked into the casino.

A bunch of men on Thai mats were playing with dice. Knowing his time was limited Sasuke got right to the point, "I'm looking for someone." This turned some heads to look at him.

"The legendary loser, Tsunade. Have you seen her?" What surprised Sasuke is all of the men started smiling.

"Yeah kid," A man in his thirties with a goatee spoke up. "She came through here a few days ago. We sure made some money, eh guys?" The others nodded and some outright agreed with him.

"Do you have any idea where she is now?"

The man scratched his head. "I think she was headed to Tanzaku city. If you hurry you might catch her." Sasuke thanked them and started to leave. "Are you trying to win some money off her too?" He said with a laugh, but Sasuke had already disappeared.

The black-haired boy reappeared on the roof, "I got lucky." He said, "She's not here but she should be in Tanzaku city."

"Awesome," Naruto all but shouted. "Now we just need a way out of here."

"About that, I came up with a way out. Actually you gave me the idea Naruto."

"Really?"

"Yes," Shino answered. "We're going to escape unnoticed by walking through the sewers until we get out of the city."

"Ewww," Naruto did not want to go back into the sewers. "Hey wait, we still haven't gotten any food yet!" Sasuke rolled his eyes as the three of them decided the best plan of action for getting something to eat.

* * *

**Next time they'll meet Tsunade, and maybe someone else! I wish i could start on the actual crossover part but we'll have to wait. Don't worry it should come in a few more chapters. Also the chapter length might fluctuate in the future as I try to get to a certain part instead of a certain length. However if a few chapters are shorter that means they should come out sooner. Review!**


	3. Abandoned City

The fate of our world chapter 3

"What the hell do you brats want?" The clearly annoyed blonde woman asked the three shinobi. This blonde was no mere woman however; she was one of the three sannin: Tsunade. A master of healing jutsu with a mean right hook.

After arriving in Tanzaku city Naruto, Shino and Sasuke quietly searched the city looking for Tsunade. It was too dangerous to split up so they had to search together. But now they had managed to find her and her assistant in a quiet part of the town.

"Hello, my name is Naruto Uzamaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

At this Sasuke rolled his eyes and punched Naruto in the shoulder.

"Oh wait, no I'm not." Naruto remembered; he laughed out uncomfortably. "Sorry about that, let me try again."

However before he could start over Sasuke cut him off. "We don't have time for this. I'm Sasuke, the dweeb is Naruto," He pointed at Naruto. "And that's Shino. We need your help."

Tsunade didn't really think she'd help them, but she was curious. "What do you need me for?"

"You're like the best at healing jutsu right old lady? Well we need you to heal our friend, nobody else can." Naruto told her. However instead of a reply he got a punch in the face.

"Don't call me old lady!" She screamed at them angrily. Naruto hit the ground and didn't look like he was getting up anytime soon. "And why should I help you? You're Konoha ninja aren't you? I have no desire to ever go back there again."

"But what about our friend?"

Tsunade shrugged, "It's not my problem. I don't even know them."

Naruto was getting angry at her careless retorts however Shino and Sasuke had another matter on their hands. They sensed someone was coming but they couldn't tell which direction they were.

"What a wonderful coincidence, I didn't expect to see you so soon Sasuke." The voice sent a shiver down Sasuke's spine as he turned to face it. The voice belonged to Orochimaru who was standing on a nearby roof with Kabuto. A strange grin ran across his face as the two of them jumped down in front of the five.

"I assume you're here to join me?" It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Orochimaru, is that you?" Tsunade asked her fellow Sannin. He turned to look at her.

"Hello Tsunade, I need your help. Before we get into that however I was asking Sasuke something…"

"Hell no I'm not here to join you. We're just here for Tsunade."

Orochimaru shook his head back and forth, "Sasuke, your just making this difficult on yourself. Kabuto!" He shouted and the grey-haired ninja drew his kunai. "Retrieve Sasuke!"

"Yes Lord Orochimaru." And with that Kabuto suddenly sprung into action heading straight for Sasuke. The three ninja took a fighting stance however before anyone could attack Tsunade suddenly took a swing at Kabuto. He managed to dodge however and back flipped back onto his feet.

"Enough!" The blonde yelled out. "What's going on Orochimaru? Why are you here and what do you want with the kid?"

"That boy is the last Uchiha and I need his power. As for why I'm here I think I already told you, I need your medical help. As you may have noticed my arms no longer work."

"Don't help him!" Naruto yelled at her. "He attacked Konoha and killed the third Hokage!" This stopped the female Sannin in her tracks.

"What? Is this true Orochimaru?" She asked, hoping it was a mistake.

The male Sannin shrugged, "My plan didn't go as I had hoped but yes I did manage to end that old man's life."

Her eyes widened in shock. "You…you bastard! I knew you hated him but I never thought you'd go that far!" Her hand curled into a fist as she shouted at her former friend. A frown formed on Orochimaru's twisted face.

"Is that a no?" He asked, suddenly sounding serious. She didn't answer him with words but instead flipped him off causing him to sigh. "Fine, enough negotiations; Kabuto capture Tsunade and Sasuke."

And with those words Kabuto was once more on the move and the fight had started. Naruto had summoned a dozen clones while Sasuke activated his curse mark and Shino summoned forth his bugs. Tsunade ignored Kabuto and headed straight for Orochimaru while Shizune loaded the crossbow attached to her arm. An arrow narrowly whizzed by Kabuto's face as he was forced to stop to avoid Naruto's clones throwing themselves at him.

Kabuto was quick to recover and slashed at two of the clones with his kunai before grabbing the third and throwing it over his head into the original Naruto. Hearing the sound of chirping birds he turned to see Sasuke charging straight at him with his Chidori. Before he could get out of the way however Kabuto was hit full on with the attack.

But then Kabuto's body poofed and a log lay in its place. Realizing he had been duped Sasuke looked around for the real Kabuto. He found him beating Naruto to the ground. As Kabuto attempted to restrain Naruto something happened. Holes started to appear in his clothing and red blotchy spots grew on his skin.

He had forgotten about Shino! And now his bugs were attempting to eat Kabuto alive while Shino directed them from a safe distance away. Kabuto attempted to escape the bugs reach but they were following the scent of his blood and reappeared after him. He continually used medical ninjutsu to heal himself but he was running out of chakra and he hadn't managed to stop the bugs yet. Not to mention Naruto was getting back up and Sasuke was trying to charge up his chidori again.

Racking his brain for an idea as he continued running he suddenly felt a burst of heat from behind him. Glancing back quickly he noticed the bugs were no longer following him. They had almost all been destroyed by a huge fireball and the rest had retreated to their master.

Following the direction the fireball had come across Kabuto spotted five soldiers dressed in armor, mostly colored red. They were standing in front of Orochimaru and saluting.

"Lord Orochimaru sir," The one that seemed to be in charge spoke up without as he bowed down. "Fire lord Ozai sends his regards and us as any assistance."

"You five are just in time," Orochimaru answered. By now the fight had completely stopped while everyone watched this new development. Tsunade had stopped fighting Orochimaru while she tried to put two and two together. Kabuto took advantage of the situation to appear at his master's side.

"I want you five to take care of these fools. Kidnap the Tsunade the blonde-haired woman and Sasuke the black-haired boy, then kill the others." Orochimaru ordered the five.

"As you wish sir," They saluted him again before turning to their new foes.

"Shit," Tsunade exclaimed before turning to the three boys and her assistant. "Run away, get out of here now! And Shizune, use 'it' now!"

Nodding her head Shizune took out a black vial from her coat pocket and threw it down hard onto the ground. It broke on contact and a deep grey mist covered the area completely. Visibility was none for anyone in the area.

Then the five wasted no time in using the mist as cover and running away as fast as possible. "Release!" Orochimaru yelled but nothing happened. Realizing Tsunade had somehow managed to create a genjutsu he couldn't get rid of so easily he cursed. "What are you waiting for? Get them!" He yelled.

Naruto was running. He was scared and he felt like it was the chuunin exams all over again. He couldn't see anything but occasionally he would hear what sounded like someone engaged in battle. He didn't know where he was going; he just hoped he could get away because he was really sick of having to run away.

The blonde didn't stop running when he found himself outside of the mist. Quickly glancing around he failed to find his companions and knew he would have to keep going. He ran for at least another mile until he found himself far outside of the city. He hid himself in a fallen over trunk of a tree and waited motionless for half an hour. Naruto was horrible at waiting but luckily fear helped keep him quiet.

After the half hour had passed he got out, stretched his muscles and headed for the designated meet up point. Naruto, Sasuke and Shino had decided before they went into Tanzaku city that they would meet up in at a certain spot outside the city in case they got separated.

As he reached the designated area Sasuke, Tsunade and Shizune were already there. However as Naruto landed Sasuke tensed up and drew a weapon. "Sasuke you got out—"

"—Prove your Naruto right now, or I will attack you!" Sasuke commanded.

"Wha? Oh yeah, sure. When we took the first part of the chunin exams I couldn't answer even one of the nine questions."

Sasuke lowered his weapon, "Okay it's him."

"Sasuke, what's going on?" Naruto asked. "And where's Shino?"

Sasuke shook his head, "We don't know. He hasn't shown up yet. As for what happened, I haven't got a clue."

"It's Orochimaru," Tsunade said, speaking up. "He's made an alliance. That's why those soldiers attacked us. I'm sorry you kids had to be brought in on this."

"So what now?"

"Nothing to do but wait for Shino," Sasuke told Naruto.

30 minutes earlier

Orochimaru smiled as the stubborn mist was finally lifted. It had taken a while to find the exact jutsu (he did know quite a lot) to disable it but he found it. As the mist faded he raced forward to see what the soldiers had brought him.

Unfortunately for him he would be disappointed because when Orochimaru came upon Kabuto and the soldiers they had managed to apprehend one of the leaf ninja—the wrong one. With three of the five soldiers pushing him to the ground and Kabuto having disabled his bugs Shino couldn't even struggle against his captors. He could only lay there in pain glad at least his comrades had been able to escape.

"You fools, that's not the boy I wanted!" Orochimaru yelled at them as he flung one of his dead arms into a nearby soldier. The soldier hit was flung back into a nearby tree. "That's not Sasuke!"

"But maybe we can use him to find Sasuke, lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said, trying to alleviate his master's anger.

The sannin sighed, "It'll have to do for now." He motioned for the soldiers to restrain Shino as they headed back to sound village.

* * *

"It's already been an hour," Naruto said impatiently. "What the hell is taking Shino?"

"I hate to say this kid," Tsunade said. "But if your friend's not back by now, it means Orochimaru probably captured or killed him."

"What? No way!"

Sasuke stood up, "She might be right Naruto. One of us should go back to check the area."

"He might be waiting there for you to come back as a trap." Tsunade mentioned. "Let me send Shizune to check for you, can you do that for me Shizune?"

"Of course Tsunade, I will return as quickly as possible." At that Shizune disappeared into the trees. The three could do nothing but wait until her return. Naruto fidgeted the whole time while Sasuke just looked bored though he was really trying to plan their next move. Tsunade really wished she had some sake right about now.

An unknowable amount of time later Shizune reappeared. "No one's there," She reported. "And they're not hiding either, the place is deserted. Shino wasn't there, nor was his body."

"That means he escaped right?" Naruto asked optimistically.

Sasuke shook his head, "If he had escaped he'd have been back here by now."

"But if he was dead his body wasn't there so you're in luck." Tsunade said.

"Wouldn't Orochimaru have taken his body to study if he was dead?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade shook his head, "Orochimaru got all his research on the people of Konoha before he left. He probably already has enough information on the Aburame clan."

"Does that mean he was captured?" Naruto asked.

"Probably," Tsunade answered the other blonde. "He might use your friend to draw you out into the open Sasuke, since he seems to want you."

"Then we have to rescue him!" Naruto suggested.

"You can't do that," Tsunade said shooting down the idea. "Orochimaru is ten times stronger than you two, plus he has a whole village at his command." Naruto let out a sigh as a few moments passed in silence with everyone thinking what to do.

"Tell you what brats," Tsunade broke the silence. "Since it's partially my fault your friend got captured back there, I'll help you out. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll go back to Konoha and help your friend."

"Really?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. "You'd do that? Oh wow I was wrong about you, your pretty cool for an old lady." And at that comment Tsunade punched Naruto in the head.

"Our friend's name is Rock lee," Sasuke spoke up before Tsunade decided to change her mind.

"Alright, I'll go to Konoha and do what I can. Anything you want me to tell him for you?"

"Yes," Sasuke said, carefully choosing his words. "Tell him to meet us in the abandoned city."

"The abandoned city?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow. "But there is…Never mind. I'll give him the message."

"Thank you." At that Tsunade and Shizune said goodbye and headed toward Konoha. Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"So what are we going to do now? And what's the abandoned city?"

"It's an old Uchiha base where we can resupply and hide. Its south from here, it'll take us a few days so we should leave now. We don't have time to waste."

It took longer than Sasuke thought to get to the abandoned city. They had to be extremely cautious to avoid any ninja-hunters from Konoha that were after them or any of those strange soldiers that showed up every once in a while that worked for Orochimaru. Overall it was not a pleasant trip with their lack of food along with the weather getting colder at night.

As night approached the two ninja found themselves wandering through the middle of the abandoned city. Naruto was looking from side to side taking in the view while he followed Sasuke. Sasuke did know where he was going and was determined to get there before anyone saw them.

"Here," He said, breaking the silence. They were standing in front of an old decaying building. It looked like an old hotel however there wasn't anything special about it. A sign over the top read "Sky Area".

"This is an Uchiha base?" Naruto asked questionably. "Are you sure someone still lives here? Looks pretty empty to me." Sasuke just shrugged and the two walked in. The building seemed relatively empty as they walked around. Walls with cracks; dirt and dust covering everything else.

They walked down a few halls that were all the same; very bare with just a few pipes for a ceiling. The air got thinner as they got lower and Naruto didn't think he liked the place very much. Suddenly the scurrying of tiny feet could be found and Naruto and Sasuke turned around.

"It's been a while, Denka, Hina." Sasuke greeted the two ninja cats that had just appeared behind them.

"Ha, I knew it. It's that boy Sasuke," Said the black and white one.

"What are you doing here?" The other one asked.

"Wow ninja cats," Naruto said. "How awesome," He bent down to pet one but received a bark in response. "Okay then, never mind…"

"We're here for weapons and medicine, and also a place to hide out for a while. I need to talk to granny cat."

"Did ya bring us any goodies?" The black and white cat asked.

"Of course," Sasuke said pulling out a bottle from his pocket. "Here's a bottle of catnip." He dropped it and the cat caught it in his mouth.

"Okay come this way, I'll show you to granny cat." The cats turned and headed quickly down the next hall while Naruto and Sasuke followed behind. The hall opened up into a large room filled with cats. The room was adorned with a few things and it definitely seemed like somebody lived there.

In the back of the room sitting on an old mat was an elderly woman smoking a pipe. She seemed to resemble a cat herself, whether that was by choice or coincidence.

"Whoa, who's the old lady?" Naruto asked, but right after he did the blonde found himself being attacked by the room's cats. "Ah no stop! Sasuke help!"

Sasuke however paid Naruto no mind as he walked right up to the elderly woman and kneeled down in front of her. "I'm in debt to you, granny cat."

She pulled the pipe out of her mouth and breathed out. "Why are you here Sasuke? Who would you need to hide from?"

In as few words as possible Sasuke told his story to the old woman. He told her their need was dire and that they would leave as soon as their friend showed up. Naruto walked up to where Sasuke was kneeling and sat down, his body now covered in multiple scratches from the cats. A minute passed as granny cat considered all she had heard.

"I cannot abandon the heir to the Uchiha in his hour of need. You and your friend may stay."

"Thank you, I can pay…"

But the cat lady shook her head in front of her, "Keep your money for now. You can pay me for any supplies you take when you leave, but nothing more." Sasuke nodded.

"My granddaughter has just finished preparing dinner; which you and your friend are welcome to partake in." Naruto and Sasuke thanked her and waited as food was brought out for them to eat. Both found it fulfilling though Naruto secretly wished he had some ramen instead.

Nearing the end of the meal, granny cat's granddaughter appeared and whispered something in her ear. She nodded a few times and then the young woman left.

She turned to look at her guests, "Nothing to be concerned about. My granddaughter has informed me that a poor looking young man has wandered into our city. A few blocks away from here he fainted and has not gotten back up."

"It's probably nothing but could you two go out and make sure this person does not find his way here? You may dispose of him however you wish. I am fairly certain that this isn't a trap, just a poor person that got lost…"

"As you wish granny cat," Sasuke answered her before dragging Naruto outside with him.

"Man this place is so weird. All the cats are just creepy and now the old woman's making us do her chores?" Naruto complained.

"We don't exactly have a choice," Sasuke said as they turned another corner. In front of them was a young man with blood red hair face down in the middle of the street. His black clothing seemed over-worn and he had a gourd strapped to his back.

"Gaara?" Naruto exclaimed in amazement as he ran over to the body. Flipping the body over he found it was indeed his friend Gaara. He still had the tattoo on his head and black marks under his eyes. Naruto tried to shake him awake.

"Gaara, wake up!"

Sasuke put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to stop him from shaking Gaara. "He's unconscious; we need to take him back for medicine. He's hurt."

Naruto nodded and carefully pulled Gaara's body onto his shoulders. Taking a deep breath he started off a brisk run back to the hideout with Sasuke running beside him. Bending over to avoid hitting Gaara on the ceiling, Naruto ran through the hideout as he tried to find his way back.

"Hey crazy cat-woman!" Naruto yelled as he found his way back. "This isn't some random bum, this is our friend and he's hurt! Do you have any medicine in this dump?"

"What a rude brat you are," She muttered under her breath as she summoned her granddaughter again. "Aisha, get the medicine and something to lay this young man on."

"Right away," She said before disappearing into another part of the building. She returned a few minutes later with the stuff and they laid Gaara onto a blanket. Granny cat had some medical knowledge so she took a look at Gaara.

"This is nothing serious; he's just over-exhausted and starving."

"Sounds serious to me…" Naruto muttered to himself. She pretended not to hear the hyperactive ninja and went back to trying to help Gaara. Whatever she thought, Naruto just hoped they could help his friend get better. That and that he could find some peace in all this chaos!

* * *

**A/N: This chapter dedicated to Karin, because i really hope she's still alive!**


	4. Awakening

The Fate of our World chapter 4

That night Gaara dreamed…

_He found himself alone in a desert at twilight. The red sand under his feet felt hard and stiff. Suddenly an image of Sasuke and Naruto appeared in the sky._

_"Ha! You duel like a dairy farmer," Naruto goaded Sasuke._

_"How appropriate," Sasuke responded. "You duel like a cow."_

_However as quickly as they appeared the images of both ninjas disappeared. They were replaced quickly enough though by the image of Gaara's brother, Kankuro. "Remember Gaara," He instructed. "If you meet the avatar, kill the avatar!"_

_This strange message also disappeared transformed into a large grey cloud shooting lightning. "I'm sure it is," The cloud spoke, but not to him. "But just to be sure…Mai and Ty lee? Take the earth benders out!" Followed by the sound of something drilling. The sound became louder and louder until…_

Suddenly Gaara woke as the upper part of his body shot out of the bed. Tears ran down his face as he could barely make out the hazy forms of a blonde, a raven-haired person and an old woman. The feeling of something pushed upwards into his throat before he vomited without warning. After emptying his stomach he fell back into unconsciousness.

"Are you okay now, Gaara?" Naruto asked the red-hair as he watched him finish eating. Gaara had woken up very suddenly only to vomit and go unconscious again. A while later they were able to wake him back up and get him something to drink and eat since he was starving. Now that his meal was closed to finished Naruto was ready to break the silence for his curiosities sake.

"Can you tell us what happened? What are you doing here?"

"Geez Naruto, give him a minute," Sasuke snipped.

Gaara swallowed his last bite and took a deep breath. "You mean you don't know what happened to Suna? Since your Hokage ordered it I assumed you would've known…"

"Wait, Hokage?" Naruto interrupted. "They picked a new one already?"

"I guess you didn't know," Gaara said. "From what I heard he wasn't exactly 'picked', more like he took over."

"Who? Who took over?"

"Someone named Danzo."

Sasuke's eyes lit up in recognition, "Danzo? HE's leading Konoha now?"

"You know about this guy Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "Who is he?"

"Let's just say he confronted me after my clan got wiped out. Anyway Gaara, what happened in Suna?"

Gaara nodded slowly, the memory playing through his mind as he searched for the words. "Konoha attacked Suna a few days ago. Danzo was leading the attack but Konoha was aided by the fire nation."

"Konoha attacked? No way," Naruto freaked out. "You're lying! Konoha would never attack Suna! You guys are our allies."

"I'm not lying…." Gaara mumbled.

"Fire nation?" Sasuke questioned. "What do you mean fire nation? We live in the land of fire…."

Gaara shook his head. "No, not that. I don't know much about them except they are a dangerous country from across the sea that came looking for power. From the information we gathered afterward Danzo made an agreement with them right after he placed himself as Hokage."

"Right after? So were you able to fend them off?" Sasuke asked.

"No. When I said 'right after' I meant after they conquered Suna and took control of our capital. Many of the nobles and people in command were either killed or arrested. I was arrested too but Temari and Kankuro managed to get me out at their own safety."

"So they're still in jail in Suna?" Naruto asked. Gaara nodded.

"After I escaped I wandered around, I didn't know where to go. And somehow I ended up here…"

"You're in the abandoned city," Sasuke answered him. "And you can stay with us for now if you want."

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, but why are you guys here anyway? Why aren't you in Konoha?" And this question led Naruto and Sasuke to once again tell the story of why they left Konoha in the first place. The story convinced Gaara, who before had been a bit suspicious after the attack on Suna but was now comfortable around them again.

And so they would wait. Wait for their friend Rock Lee's recovery and arrival; putting all their faith in the stranger they know as Tsunade. And while they waited they would train. Become strong enough to survive.

* * *

So your probably wondering why the hell this chapter is so short, there's a reason. I haven't even gotten to the crossover part yet i'm already starting to lose interest in this story, and that's partially because of you guys. The first chapter got great response, however the other two got almost no reviews at all (and "Naruto should know hinata loved him" isn't a review).

I get the occasional story alerts but mostly this story gets favorited, which makes me wonder if people only liked the first chapter and thought the rest was crap. I was never the kind of writer to demand reviews, but...i'm demanding them. If you think the story sucks, then tell me, or if you have some other suggestion. However I'm not writing this story until i get more reviews, sorry. Also if u were wondering, the crossover would start next chapter. Thanks for reading.


	5. Boats

**A/N: First off thank you to everyone who reviewed! I got really inspired after all the reviews I got, over 10 just for chapter 4. So I wrote this long chapter for you all, over 4000 words (it's long for me). Couple things before the chapter. **

**1. I've made some changes in regards to the pairings that I had posted in chapter one. I plan to change Naruto's pairing from Amaru to Suki, Sokka's pairing to Tenten and take out Shino's pairing all together. Nothing against Shino but I have no idea how I would do any sort of romance with him. However if you really don't like these changes or something you can tell me that in a review and I might consider something else. **

**2. I prefer to keep everything in english. Maybe it's me being a stupid american or something but you won't generally find any japanese phrases in this story. This story has an exception where Rock Lee calls Gai his sensei, I don't know what else I'd use for that so i just went with sensei because it seemed right. **

**3. I noticed alot of people took Gaara's dream seriously last chapter. I won't spoil anything but that wasn't supposed to be taken too seriously. Yes it had some meaning to it but the Kankuro thing....not so much. Anyway R&R!**

The fate of our world chapter 5

The sun was setting as Rock lee neared the gates to Konoha. He was not surprised to find the man he looked up to most waiting for him. "Gai-sensei…" Lee spoke as he walked closer.

Maito Gai opened his eyes as his student spoke to him. He had been overflowing with his youthful happiness every time he saw Lee now that his operation had gone successfully. Tsunade had done her best to fix Lee's arm and leg and she succeeded. However she did leave with her apprentice almost immediately afterwards.

Gai wasn't stupid however; he knew exactly why his favorite student had come to the gates today. It was because of Naruto Uzamaki. One of, if not Lee's best friends. Gai had struggled with what was the right decision to make regarding his young pupil. But such answers had not come easy, and in the end Gai had decided to do what his heart told him; no matter how hard it was.

Gai walked right up to Lee and punched him right in the face. "Gai-sensei?" Lee asked as he rubbed the right side of his face. He had been knocked to the ground and though getting up would've been easy he didn't move.

"Lee, I know what it is you're going to do. It is a most un-youthful thing to betray your own village…" He paused for a moment.

"…But there is nothing more youthful than a sacrificing something for a comrade." And at that Lee understood his master's perspective and that he might never seen the man again. Tears ran down both male's faces but they embraced in a very manly hug.

"Thank you Gai-sensei, I promise I will do my best or I will run seventy laps around the world!"

"That is a very youthful promise Lee," He told his student. "I must remain behind to do my best to protect Konoha. And I promise you if I fail I will run backwards on one hand around the world one-hundred and eleven times!" Both shook their fists in the air to validate their claims and that they respect the promise of the other.

"Geez, you guys are always so emotional." Tenten complained as she walked into view.

"Tenten?" Gai exclaimed. "Are you too leaving with Lee?" He didn't wait for her answer before proclaiming: "Than I will have no students left to teach! Then Kakashi will have beaten me because he still has that pink-haired girl…umm…"

"Sakura," Tenten answered the unasked question. "And I don't think you have to worry about Kakashi training her…"

"Why is that Tenten?" Rock Lee asked his teammate.

"Well from what Ino told me Kakashi is pretty bummed out now that both Naruto and Sasuke were gone. I guess Sakura has been going to him asking for training so she can 'rescue Sasuke from Naruto's evil clutches' or something ridiculous like that. But every time she tries to find him he runs away or comes up with an excuse."

Rock Lee nodded his head, "Yes, it is unfortunate that Sakura is still so delusional about Naruto."

Tenten shrugged, "Anyway we should go Lee. Standing around here too long with draw attention from all those new guards." At this she looked around as if to check if they were close enough to hear them.

After Danzo had taken over and brought in all these 'fire nation' soldiers the attack on Suna was ordered. A large portion of Konoha's ninja were forced to go to Suna for the attack and so some of the soldiers had stayed here. Danzo had said it was for protection but Tenten really didn't like what was happening.

"Goodbye Gai-sensei!" Lee said as he waved frantically at his teacher.

"Goodbye Tenten, goodbye Lee!" Gai said as he returned the wave enthusiastically. Suddenly a voice was heard and a few soldiers appeared. Before another word could be spoken Lee and Tenten disappeared through the gate and into the forest.

"That's it, Lee! Run…run towards the setting sun! …But don't mess up your hair!"

"Aang!" Katara screamed out as she ran towards the boy. On the other side of the world in Ba Sing Se Katara and friends were underneath Lake Laogai looking for their bison. As she ran into the room she spotted Aang unharmed but Jet was on the ground clearly in pain.

"Oh no, Jet!" Smellerbee exclaimed as she ran over to her leader.

"What happened Aang?" Katara asked as she kneeled down to use her water bending on Jet.

"It was that Dai Lee guy! He used his mind-control on Jet but when Jet broke free he attacked him. Please Katara, you have to help him!" At this point the rest of the gang including Smellerbee and Longshot were standing close by.

Katara nodded, "I'm trying Aang. The problem is he has internal bleeding, I don't think I can fix that…"

At that moment Sokka had an idea. "Hey Katara, use that water you got at the North Pole on Jet. That might work, right?"

"That's a great idea Sokka!" Katara pulled out the vial that was around her neck and bended the special water out of it. She carefully bended it through Jet's body; going over and making sure to heal the injuries that earth bender had inflicted on the freedom fighter.

"Oh wow," Jet said in relief. "That water is icy cold but….I can feel it working. I'm starting to feel better." Jet tried to sit up but Katara pushed him back down.

"Stay down; you're not that better yet." She wiped sweat off her brow as she finished. "All right I did what I could, I think you'll be fine Jet but it's going to take a while before you're fully healed."

"We don't have the time to wait Katara," Toph interjected. "We have to find Appa now!" Aang nodded in agreement at Toph's statement.

"You go now," Longshot suddenly said. Everybody looked surprised because they had never heard him talk before. "He's our leader; we'll take care of him." Smellerbee agreed.

"We don't have the time to think about it," Aang said. "Thank you guys; hopefully we'll see you later!" Aang said as the four of them left. Now there were only the three freedom fighters left in the big empty room. They knew the Dai Lee agents would be here soon and wondered if they'd make it out alive.

Sooner than they expected they heard the sound of footprints. Surprisingly however it only sounded like one person. Without warning a man who clearly was NOT a Dai Lee agent stepped out of the darkness.

"Hello you three," The voice said with what sounded like a hiss. "Would you like some help?"

* * *

"What the hell do you mean we have to leave right now?" Naruto yelled at the old woman. "Bush-brows and Tenten only just got here yesterday and it's the middle of the night!"

"Are you kicking us out?" Gaara asked.

Granny cat shook her head. "My scouts have reported back that a group from ROOT have learned of your location and are headed here right now. They should be here by morning which is why you have to leave."

"But how did they find us?" Tenten asked. "I thought nobody ever came here."

"They don't," She answered. "But unfortunately when you two came here yesterday you were being followed. This spy reported back to his superiors and now they're almost there."

"We were followed?" Lee asked ashamed. "That is unacceptable! I can't believe I just let myself by followed! If Gai-sensei were here…" The boy shook his head. "Who followed us?"

"I know no names, merely another boy around your age with grayish white skin dressed all in black."

Naruto was paying less attention to what Rock Lee was saying and wondering about something else. "Why do we have to leave? Were strong enough to fight them! Bushy-brows is super fast, Gaara has the sand thing going for him and Sasuke and me are strong enough for anybody we come up against!"

"Hey!" Tenten complained, "What about me?"

"Oh yeah Tenten," Naruto looked uncomfortable. "You have the…you can…uhh…"

"Sorry Tenten," Sasuke apologized. "But Naruto only ever saw you fight Temari."

"Enough distractions!" The cat woman yelled. "You've wasted enough of the little time you have. Sasuke, head east to Sky Pier. It's a small town on the coast where you can ride a rarely taken boat. It'll get you away from here and take you somewhere safe where you won't have to worry about being a missing nin."

"Did you not hear me old lady? I said we could fight! We could win!"

"Naruto…"Sasuke started. "Let's take the boat."

"If you don't wish to be involved in the bloodshed of your former village members I understand Sasuke however," Gaara paused. "I could easily—"

"It's not that Gaara. I think that it would be better to go so we could get away from all the people trying to kill us."

"But what about Shino? We still have to save him!" Naruto said.

"I know. I didn't say we wouldn't come back; I still need to kill my brother. But we can't keep hiding like this. Running and hiding, it's going to take a toll on us. We lost Shino last fight, whose next?"

"Sasuke your decision to protect your friends is both wise and youthful." Rock Lee told him. "I agree with you."

"I don't like running," Gaara said. "But if it will prevent further running…"He didn't finish. "Just as long as we come back so I can free Temari and Kankuro."

"Hey, I'm okay with whatever." Tenten told the boys. "As the only girl in the group I'd probably get outvoted anyway."

Naruto scowled, "Fine, fine. "Whatever, let's just go already." At this the cat lady smiled a bit.

"Hurry, time is short. Go now while it is still dark out."

* * *

The small sea-side town stank of the ocean. Gaara hated the smell of the ocean. That salty air that had evaporated and was not penetrating his skin without permission. Knowing they wouldn't be here long however Gaara didn't voice his opinion as they reached the port.

It was evening of the next day and they hadn't eaten anything since. The four boys were standing around waiting. Glancing here and there occasionally, getting in the way of the sailors, wishing that damn seagull would get just a bit closer so he could grab it with his sand…

"Alright guys I'm back," Tenten announced as she walked back up to them. "I have bad news; the ship leaves in an hour but we only have enough money for three tickets. What should we do?"

"But do we have enough money for some ramen?" Naruto asked.

"Well yeah…" Tenten answered confused. "But screw ramen we have to—"

"Blasphemer! Never screw ramen Tenten." Naruto went from angry to calculating real quick. "Listen we don't need money for tickets."

"—We probably don't even need tickets." Gaara inputted.

"Yeah my point is we're ninja. Let's use the money to get something to eat. Then we can either steal the tickets or—"

"Or Naruto can cause a distraction and we can sneak on board." Sasuke added.

"Guys that doesn't sound very youthful…" Rock Lee said, but at that moment his stomach grumbled and his complaint was thrown out the window.

"Alright then, everyone agrees!" Naruto announced. "Let's get some ramen!" The other four shrugged and followed their loud friend into a nearby ramen shop where they ate their fill. Everything seemed to be going fine until…

"Tenten look there!" Rock Lee announced. The other four followed his pointing finger to the docks where they saw a large ship with red flags. "Fire nation ships!"

"Oh no," She cried. "Not here too!"

"Fire nation? I keep hearing about those guys, somebody tell me who they are!" Naruto asked before taking another bite.

"No time," Lee whispered. "We should get out of here quickly."

"We'll go with plan B then. You up for the distraction Naruto?"

"I was born ready, Sasuke!"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. "Alright then, make sure you change your appearance first. I don't want them recognizing you when we're halfway out to sea." Naruto nodded and ran off. The other three boys already got up and Tenten paid the bill.

Naruto ran past the shops and onto the docks. Hiding behind a barrel of oil he quickly transformed himself into his former school-mate Chouji. Stepping out from behind the barrel he noticed his four comrades standing near the boat waiting. They gave him a nod which he returned before he started running.

He ran past the ticket taker who yelled out angrily for him to come back and ran onto the boat. Knocking over various things and people as he went he grabbed onto the mast with both hands. "Hello Sailors!" He yelled out, loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear him.

"You can all kiss my ass!" He yelled before using his shadow-clone technique to make one-hundred more Choujis who now covered the top of the boat. Suddenly chaos broke out on the ship as the Choujis started running amok while the sailors either watched in amazement or tried to catch them.

While no one was looking the four remaining ninja quickly boarded the ship unnoticed. Spotting a few passengers who were watching the spectacle with amusement the four had no trouble pick-pocketing them for their tickets plus one.

Once Naruto saw his friends' head below deck he quickly transformed the original back into himself before dispersing his clones. He calmly walked down below deck to find his comrades while the sailors' stared around in utter shock. The boat took another hour to depart because of all the sailors searching frantically for a fat ninja boy that could replicate himself. But nevertheless the boat did take off and our five heroes were finally off.

Somewhere, eating barbeque in Konoha, Chouji sneezed. This didn't faze him however as he went back to eating immediately. Sitting across from him was Shikamaru and he thought sneezing was very troublesome.

* * *

Two weeks later

It was raining heavily as the boat pulled into harbor. Naruto and Lee didn't seem to mind however as they both sprinted off of the boat, got on their knees and started kissing the ground. "Land!" Naruto cried out. "Were saved Bushy-brows!"

"Naruto I am never going on a boat again!"

"Never!" He agreed. Behind the two walked Sasuke, Gaara and Tenten. Gaara also seemed happy to be off the boat as he sat down next to his two hyper friends and took a deep breath. Tenten found herself smiling unconsciously and even Sasuke looked happier than he had the last two weeks.

"So…where are we again Sasuke?"

He sighed, "Damn you're stupid Naruto. Did you forget again? I already told you, we're in the earth kingdom; the north-eastern part."

Tenten was looking around. The port was bustling with activity, people going back and forth. She noticed most of the people that weren't soldiers seemed rather poor, and they were all heading down a certain path.

"Do you guys remember what that old man was telling us?"

"The one with TWO peg legs?" Rock Lee asked. Gaara shuddered beside him as he remembered the old timer.

"Well…yeah he was pretty weird looking. But that's not what I was talking about. He was talking to that large crowd about the earth kingdom's capital, Ba Sing Se; that it's not far from here. Maybe we should check it out?"

Sasuke looked like he was contemplating. "Well we don't have a definite plan other than we need to get stronger. We have absolutely no knowledge of the earth kingdom so going there would be better than getting lost in a forest."

"How far is the city?" Rock Lee asked.

"Not far from what that old man said," She scratched her head. "Let's buy a map at one of these shops." She said pointing to the shabby couple of shops that lined the street. They checked inside a few stores but found nothing more than food and clothing.

As they were walking along a man near a pirate ship called out to them. "Ahoy there, why don't you kids come aboard if you're looking for something to buy!"

The five glanced at each other and shrugged. They thought perhaps they would find a map here. Four of them started toward the ill dressed man and his ship. "No thanks," Gaara said. "I just got off a ship. I'm not going back on another one." The others nodded in understanding and walked aboard.

The inside was pretty old, the ship itself in bad shape. However there were multiple shelves and barrels all over filled with junk. The four wandered spread out through the inside of the ship. Naruto kept touching everything while Tenten didn't look at anything besides the weapons.

"Hey Sasuke, I think I found one." Naruto called to his friend. Sasuke hadn't been looking at anything in particular and wandered over to Naruto's voice. The blonde was in front of a barrel filled with scrolls.

"What are those?" He asked.

"Some kinda 'water scrolls' or something," Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, but look!" he pulled out a newer one and unraveled it to reveal a map. "A map!"

"Naruto, have you found it?" Lee asked as he and Tenten walked over. The two were glad that their prize was found so they could leave. "But we still don't have any money—"

"Bushy-brows!" Naruto said, interrupting Lee. "Do you what this ship is? Do you know who these people are? Their pirates! And pirates and ninjas are mortal enemies."

"Of course Naruto, how could I forget? The youthful rivalry between the two was explained to me by Gai-sensei long ago."

"Exactly, and since their pirates that means—"

"Hey you kids!" A voice rang out. Turning to look a pirate dressed in maroon with a green parrot on his shoulder walked over. "Did you say your ninjas?" As he asked this more of his crew came over. Naruto nodded slowly.

"We hate ninjas! Get em boys!" He yelled as the ten pirates attacked the four ninjas. Unfortunately for the pirates they really had no idea who they were dealing with. As the lead pirate brought his sword down to slice open Sasuke the Uchiha didn't even bother avoiding it.

Instead he caught the wrist of the pirate and broke it, forcing him to drop the sword and cry out in pain. He tried to pull back but too little too late as Sasuke unleashed a fireball straight in the man's face. It engulfed him and the two nearest. Lee had kicked the pirate closest to him through the hull of the ship while Tenten had incapacitated her opponent.

Naruto had of course overdone it but using his shadow-clones to take on the rest of them. The remaining pirates ran for their lives right off the ship and right past Gaara. He didn't see much threat in them and just let them pass. A minute later the four came off and Naruto shot Gaara a wave with the map.

"Have fun?" He asked.

"Nah those guys were too easy. But we did manage to get the map."

"Let's leave already, this place isn't any fun." Sasuke stated as they started for the exit of the town.

"Hey Sasuke, that crappy fight got me thinking." Naruto told his friend.

"That's a first."

"Hey!" He said angrily. "Anyway, we should have a fight. I bet I'm stronger than you now!"

"That's a joke; you still don't have anything to match my Chidori." The two continued their argument while a few feet ahead Lee was asking Tenten about the map.

"So can you tell how far away Ba Sing Se is?"

The brunette nodded, "Yes. It's still morning so we should reach the city by tonight. It's quite close really." Lee exclaimed his happiness at this while Gaara wondered if following these idiots was a good idea after all.

A few hours passed and midday was upon them. They passed most of the time in silence. The five had gotten used to being cramped together in a boat so now walking outside in the open was very relaxing. As they started up a hill they were unaware that on the other side of the hill an exhausted girl around their age was attempting to run to safety.

The girl was dressed in the worn-out prison clothes of the fire nation. She looked extremely fatigued and kept looking over her shoulder; though this was for good reason as a group of fire nation soldiers were tracking her.

The girl's brown hair hadn't been washed in days and was currently covering her eyes. It came as no surprise when she got to the top of the hill and ran straight into Naruto.

The five ninja looked surprised at the girl who had just run into Naruto. She hadn't the strength to knock him over though, instead she nearly fell onto him; using his body as support to hold up her own. Before he could say anything she looked up into his eyes and whispered through coarse lips, "Help." Then she fell unconscious in his arms.

"What the…" Naruto asked as he looked around confused.

"Naruto don't just stand there," Tenten chided. "Help her out!" He nodded and carefully laid her down on the ground with his backpack as a pillow for her head. He could tell she was in horrible shape though he couldn't help notice the natural beauty that seemed to emanate from her.

"Who is she?" Lee asked.

"Is she alive?" Gaara questioned. Sasuke turned over her arm and felt her wrist as he looked for a pulse.

"Yes she's alive. She's exhausted, however not as bad as you were when we found you Gaara."

"What did she want help from?" Naruto asked.

"That would be us." A voice answered and the five looked up to see four well muscled men on what seemed to be some very strange looking animals which were in fact Komodo Rhinos.

"What do you want with her?" Naruto demanded.

"That girl is the prisoner of the fire nation, she escaped. Now hand her over, we'll have to chop her legs off this time to make sure she doesn't escape again." As he said this he pulled out a very sharp sword.

"You bastards!" Naruto screamed as he flung a wave of shuriken at the man. The man deflected all but one which slashed through his shoulder. At this a battle broke out as the men riding the Komodo rhinos attacked. The men that Naruto attacked jumped off his rhino and pulled out another sword before charging straight at the boy.

One of the other riders shot a crossbow straight at Gaara; however it bounced off his sand shield easily enough. Tenten pulled out a scroll, activated it and sent a torrent of weapons straight into another of the riders. The man looked more like a pincushion as he fell off his Rhino dead.

The Rhino itself rammed about in confusion and tried to slam straight into Lee, but Lee dodged to the side and kicked hard at the Rhino's stomach. Sending the Rhino straight down the opposite side of the hill.

Sasuke used his lion barrage to crush the fourth rider into his own mount. Looking at his companions he noticed Gaara get bored of all the arrows getting shot into him. Cracking his neck he moved closer to the man who was becoming frantic as his attacks weren't working.

Summoning forth a mound of sand Gaara covered the man in it and used his sand coffin attack to crush his body. A girlish scream brought their attention back to the first rider who was now running away from Naruto with his tail between his legs.

Sasuke sighed, "We have got to find some better opponents. Everybody here sucks."

Lee shrugged, "Fighting that Rhino was kinda cool…" But his comment mostly went unnoticed as Tenten and Naruto gathered around the unconscious girl's body.

"Give me your canteen Naruto," Tenten ordered him. He obliged and Tenten slowly trickled some water down the girl's mouth. She then took a few bandages out and wrapped up the burns on the girls' arms.

As Tenten finished the girl started to budge. Her eyes opened slowly. Everyone was quiet as they waited to see what would happen. "So...bright…" The girl muttered.

Suddenly her eyes opened wide and she tried to sit up. However Tenten pushed her back down so she didn't hurt herself. "Stay down," She instructed.

"No…soldiers coming…run."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah we took care of those guys don't worry about em."

She looked confused but nodded, "Thank you."

"Do you want some more water?" Tenten asked her. She nodded again and took a few small gulps from the canteen she was handed. Putting it down she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Just dehydrated mostly." She smiled. "My name is Suki, thanks for your help."

Naruto gave her his big smile and said, "Don't worry about it. My name's Naruto. This is Gaara, Sasuke, Bushy-brows—"

"Don't tell her that, that's not my name!"

"Oh right, sorry. LEE I meant, and this is Tenten." He pointed to them as he named them. "Can you tell us why those guys were chasing you?"

"Alright, it's not like you guys are fire nation or anything." She said with a small laugh. "I'm the leader of the Kyoshi warriors and my team and I were captured by the fire nation."

"They decided to take me to some special prison since I'm the leader. I guess they wanted to make an example of me or something. Anyway I managed to escape yesterday and I've been running away from them since."

"Wow you're pretty awesome to avoid them that long since they were riding those rhino things," Naruto commented. "And you're not even a ninja."

"Ninja?" She asked. "Well no, but don't underestimate me. I might not be a bender but I am a fully trained warrior, my body is a lethal weapon!"

"Bender?" Lee asked.

"Yeah bender," They looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"What's a bender?"

* * *

**A/N: How's Suki going to explain this one? Alright so next chapter is Ba Sing Se, which is the chapter I've been looking forward to writing since I started. Alot of stuff happened this chapter so review and tell me how you think it went, later.**


	6. Ba Sing Se

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, i kinda suck at writing. Also I may not have proofread this. You guys should totally check out the survey on my page. That is all.**

The Fate of our world chapter 6

"Huh?" Suki asked confused. "Is that a joke?"

Rock Lee shook his head, "No really, what's a bender?"

"You know, earth-bender, water-bender, fire-bender…" She noticed a look of confusion still on the faces of the five. "You really don't know do you?" Lee shook his head. "You guys aren't from here are you?"

"Nah," Naruto answered. "Were from Konoha, village hidden in the leaves. Well except for Gaara, he's from Suna."

"Konoha?" Now it was Suki's turn to look confused. "I've never heard of there before. Is it far away?"

"Ughhh yes," Tenten answered. "TOO far away, if you know what I mean. It took us two weeks on a boat just to get into port here."

"We were just heading to Be Gong He—"

"Ba Sing Se Lee…"

"—Right, there. Do you know anything about it?"

It was then that Suki remembered who had captured her and why along with what she needed to do. "I have to go," She told them before running off in the direction of Ba Sing Se without a second glance. The five ninja blinked in confusion.

"Wait…what?" Naruto asked confused as he ran to catch up to her. "Where you going?"

"I'm sorry," She apologized without breaking stride. "But I don't have time to talk. I have to get to Ba Sing Se as soon as possible; my friends are in trouble!"

However it didn't take long for one of Suki's bare feet to slip on a hidden rock. She started to fall forward but Naruto caught her before she hit the ground. "Wait up," He told her. "You're still hurt from earlier. We're going the same way, so let us help you."

"But I don't have the time, I have to get there by tonight!"

Tenten appeared and pulled one of her arms over her shoulder. "Hey now, were ninja. Don't underestimate us! Getting there by tonight shouldn't be a problem." She smiled.

Sasuke sighed as he walked up to Naruto and not so gently kicked him. "You keep getting us involved in other people's problems dope."

"I'm sorry to have bothered you…" Suki told him.

"No it's fine. Naruto's stupidity usually works as good training for the rest of us. So let's just go already."

"Alright then," Tenten exclaimed clapping her hands together. "I'll take Suki," She leaned down and waited while Suki climbed onto her back. "Naruto you'll be in front and Gaara you take back. Let's go!" And off they went.

* * *

"So tell us Suki," Tenten asked as she broke the silence. "Why are you in such a rush to get to Ba Sing Se?" The five ninjas had been running (and Suki being carried) for the last hour in silence as they passed through rather barren fields.

"My friends are in trouble." The girl spoke. "The same three that kidnapped me are after my friends and the Avatar."

"The Avatar?" Rock Lee asked. "Who is that?"

"You don't even know who the Avatar is?" She asked amazed. "Wow you guys really aren't from around here…"

"So who is this guy?" Naruto asked impatiently. "Is he like the Hokage?"

"What's a Hokage?" She asked. "Actually…never mind. The Avatar is a special person that is reborn every time he or she dies and can bend all four elements."

"Oh," Naruto said not really getting it. "So he's really strong then?" Suki nodded.

"Can you bend?" Sasuke asked. "I'd like to see how this works."

Suki shook her head, "Sorry, but I can't. However I am an elite warrior that's trained for many years in stealth."

"Really?" Gaara asked flatly. "So are all of us." Suki wasn't really sure how to respond so instead she kept quiet.

* * *

Miles away in a dark room hidden far from prying eyes a young man waited patiently in a room. The young man was barely old enough to be called an adult however he had already done horrible things, and he served a master who had done even worse.

The young man's hands ran through his gray hair as he took a deep breath. He only had a small break before his master would require his continued services, but he was sure to use it to its fullest. When the creak of the wooden door alerted him that his break was over he quickly put his glasses back on and turned to greet his master.

"Kabuto…" The man spoke. The name lingering for a moment while the right thought was put into place. "How goes your work? Will you be ready by tonight?"

Kabuto gave a nod, "Of course Lord Orochimaru. The boy has managed complete control over his mark and the others are also ready at your command."

Orochimaru nodded a few times as his eyes darted the room. His lips curled in an unpleasant way that kept Kabuto from relaxing. "Good work," He spoke. "But what about…" The white-skinned man pointed to a corner covered in darkness. "…him?"

Kabuto grabbed a nearby lamp and swung it in front of the area his master had pointed. "He is also ready, I have put the required jutsu's on him and the sedatives are still working."

"And this time you will be able to…contain him? No more 'mistakes' I hope?"

"Of course not sir, that was an accident." He said very seriously, but realizing his master didn't care for 'accident's added: "I am in complete control of his body, all the insects are gone."

"The queen?"

Kabuto gulped, "Well I have not found it's corpse but since it's usually hidden deep within the body we wouldn't see one. It should be dead inside of him."

Orochimaru looked like he was going to say something but at the last minute changed his mind and gave a sinister sort of smile. "Good Kabuto, just be ready by tonight…" He said as he walked out of the dark room slowly.

* * *

"Oh no…" Suki said in despair as she gazed up at the walls of Ba Sing Se. "The walls! I can't believe I forgot about the walls!"

Naruto whistled, "Wow. That's a big wall." He was right, for the walls of Ba Sing Se were quite a sight to be seen and none of the other ninja's would disagree.

"No no," Suki pulled at her beautiful brown hair. "This is bad. It'll take hours to get through all the procedures and people waiting."

"That won't be a problem," Sasuke told her as he walked over to the wall. He cracked his neck then gave a few stretches.

"W-What?" Suki asked confused.

"We'll just climb it," Naruto told her.

"You can't climb that!" Suki said pointing her hand in the direction of the wall. Naruto didn't argue but instead pointed his finger to Suki's right. Turning her head her eyes lit up in amazement. She was watching an impatient Gaara climb up the wall using only his feet!

"How…how are you doing that?"

"It's easy," Tenten told her. "He's just concentrating the chakra into his feet, it's one of the first things Genin are taught."

"Can you teach me to do that?"

"Sure, but we don't have time. For now I'll have to carry you on my back again." She smiled, "I hope you're not afraid of heights." Suki shook her head. "Oh, and by the way Naruto…"

"You see Lee won't' be able to walk up the wall by himself so you'll have to carry him." She said with a giggle.

Lee saluted Naruto, "Thank you for your assistance Naruto. You are a true friend!"

"Wait what? Why do I have to carry bushy-brows? Make someone else do it!"

"But you're the only one left Naruto…" Lee told him. Naruto looked up to see everyone else was already climbing the wall.

"Aww man." Naruto whined as Rock Lee climbed onto his back. Deciding not to waste anymore time he quickly concentrated his chakra to his feet and started to climb the walls.

About ten minutes later they had reached the top and jumped over onto the other side. They were standing on a ledge made out of stone that gave a good view looking over the wall. "Where is everybody?" Suki asked. "This shouldn't be unguarded."

"Were in luck then," Gaara said as he got his bearings. "But how are we going to find your friends? This place is huge…"

"No problem," Naruto told him as he cracked his knuckles. "Hey Suki, what do your friends look like?" The girl gave a quick description of Katara, Aang, Sokka and Katara. "Alright, I think I got it. Now I'll show you why they call me the greatest ninja in all of Konoha!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "They don't call you that, dope."

"Well they should! Shadow-clone jutsu!" And before Suki's eyes a hundred Naruto clones appeared. Suki's shock at the sudden appearance of so many Naruto's drove her to take a few steps backwards only to fall on her butt.

"W-What the hell are you?"

Naruto smirked, "Didn't we already tell you? Were ninjas." And at that ninety-nine of the Naruto clones combed the city of Ba Sing Se searching for Suki's companions. Down the wall, over buildings and through parks Naruto's clones searched continuously covering the space that would have taken hours for the six of them.

While the clones searched the six found themselves doing almost nothing. They decided to move down the wall to a better location but still high enough to have a view of the city. Gaara gazed at the city darkly while Lee and Tenten did a few basic stretches next to Sasuke who couldn't help but look bored.

Naruto stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed waiting. Ten minutes later his eyes suddenly shot open as the information from one of his clones was returned to him. "I found them."

"You have?" Suki asked with a look of hope in her eyes.

"Well some of them at least," He answered scratching his head. "I didn't see the brown-haired girl but I saw the two guys and the blind girl with an old man."

"Old man?" She asked questionably. She couldn't think of any old man that hung around with them. "Well whatever, where are they?"

"Over…there!" He said as his finger tried to point out where his clone had seen them. "In a house in the eastern district."

"Let's go!" Rock Lee shouted before jumping off the platform and starting to run. Suki got back on Tenten's back and the six of them headed east with Naruto in the lead. They ran down empty streets where the only sound was the clapping of their feet on the stone ground. Sometimes they get a glimpse of a person hiding in their house but they saw very few people outside.

* * *

"There's no one else here," Toph told Sokka and Aang as she used her powers to sense the rest of the house.

"Katara is in trouble," Aang told Sokka. "I knew it!"

"Oh no…" Sokka said.

"—Wait! Someone's at the door!" Toph pointed to the wooden door they had only just walked in from. This was followed by a knock on the door. "Actually I know who it is; it's an old friend of mine." She opened the door to reveal Iroh standing there looking very serious. "Glad to see your okay."

"I need your help," He told them as Sokka and Aang jumped up in surprise.

"You guys know each other?" Aang asked accusingly.

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down," Toph explained. "Then he gave me tea and some very good advice."

"May I come in?" Iroh asked. Toph nodded. "Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se."

"She must have Katara!" Aang said.

"She has captured my nephew as well."

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula and free Katara and Zuko." Aang's statement was bold enough to get a reaction out of Sokka however before he could get the words out of his mouth another knock was heard at the door.

"It's Suki…" Toph said as she went to open the door again. "…And a lot of other people." She opened the door to reveal Suki along with five other teens around their age. There were four guys and one girl, and none of their outfits looked like anything that was worn in the earth kingdom.

"Suki?" Sokka asked confused at seeing the Kyoshi warrior in Ba Sing Se.

"Sokka! And the others, I've finally found you all!" Suki declared as ran over to give Sokka a hug. Sokka stiffened at the contact.

"What are you doing here Suki?" Aang asked, "And who are your friends?"

The brunette stopped hugging Sokka and turned to face Aang, "These guys saved my life Aang and were able to get me here to find you. Which reminds me, thanks Naruto, I have no idea how you did that but it was sure helpful."

He gave a small laugh as he scratched the back of his head, "Don't worry about it Suki."

"Don't let it go to your head, dead-last."

"Piss off Sasuke, don't ruin my moments!" The two started to argue.

"—Anyway you three, I came to give you all a warning. Princess Azula kidnapped me and the rest of the Kyoshi warriors and disguised herself as one of us to get here. I think she's trying to kill you Aang." Suki told them over the two arguing.

Aang nodded, "Iroh was just telling us that Katara and Zuko have been captured by Azula."

"Oh no, am I too late?"

Aang shook his head, "No. Were going after them now. Did you have any sort of plan Iroh?"

The older man nodded, "I brought someone with me who may be able to help." He walked slowly out the door and the others all followed him. Sitting on the floor with his hands tied and his mouth shut was a Dai Li operative. Toph immediately made a cage out of the earth making the man completely immobile.

Iroh walked over and pulled the cloth out of the man's mouth. "Azula and Long Fei and plotting a coup." The man immediately spilled. "They're going to overthrow the earth king!"

"My sister!" Sokka demanded as he pointed his weapon at the man. "Where are they keeping Katara?"

"In the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se. Deep beneath the palace." The man said and without looking back Aang, Sokka, Iroh and Toph left the house and ran to the middle of the street, an intersection. Suki followed behind though slower and the five ninja did too since they weren't sure what else they should do.

When they caught up Toph had her hand pressed to the ground and her eyes closed, she appeared to be concentrating. "Well what do you know," She said after opening her eyes and standing back up. "There is an ancient city down there, but it's deep." She then bended the rock right beneath them creating a tunnel they could walk through.

"We should split up," Sokka suggested. "Aang you go with Iroh to look for Katara and the angry jerk; no offense." He said to Iroh.

"None taken."

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the earth king about Azula's coup." He finished; however he missed a few people which Suki did not let pass.

"Umm hello? Sokka? Did you forget about us? We didn't come here to enjoy the scenery you know!"

"Wait a second," Tenten interrupted. "We don't exactly know what's going on. From what I heard it sounds like one of your friends is kidnapped right?" Aang nodded at this. "One group is going to save them and the other is warning the king about the incoming attack?" Another nod was received.

"Well since we're here then we'll help you!" Lee stated. "Let's just divide our numbers into two groups."

"Wait a minute," Sokka interrupted. "Listen were glad for your help with Suki but we don't know you. We can't just trust you in a crisis all of a sudden."

"We don't have time to debate," Iroh mentioned.

"Iroh is right Sokka," Aang said. "Listen they helped Suki, so they must be good people right? We could use their help so let's not waste any more time."

"Alright fine," Sokka said sounding clearly unhappy. "Are any of you benders?"

"No," Sasuke answered. "But we are ninja. Anyway me, Gaara and Lee will go help you warn the earth king." He told Sokka. "And Naruto, Tenten and Suki will help rescue your friend alright?" The others agreed and the group split in two directions.

* * *

Deep underground beneath the capital in a dark catacomb lit only by glowing green crystals sat two teenagers. Both seemed awkward being stuck near the other, more so considering Katara had just yelled at Zuko mere minutes ago.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," She apologized to Zuko.

He turned his head to look at the ground, "It doesn't matter…"

"It's just that for so long whenever I imagined the face of the enemy," She continued. "It was your face."

"My face…" He said as he unconsciously moved his hand over his scar. "…I see."

"No no," She denied. "That's not what I meant."

"—It's okay," he interrupted. "I used to think this scar marked me, the mark of the banished prince; cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny. Even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"Maybe," Katara said quietly. "You could be free of it?"

"What?" Zuko asked surprised.

"I have healing abilities—"

"—it's a scar; it can't be healed."

Katara shook her head, "No, but I received special healing waters from the Oasis at the North Pole. I was able to use it on Jet when he had severe internal injuries and was going to die, and it worked."

"Does that mean you don't have it any more?" Zuko asked, his voice laced with disappointment.

"Well…no. But I can always get some more. And I'm sure I can heal your scar, if you come with me."

"I don't think I'd be allowed back there after what I did. Maybe you could get some and bring it here to me?"

But before Zuko received his answer a sudden explosion erupted from an opening in the wall to their left and a voice cried out: "Katara!"

* * *

Elsewhere Sokka, Toph, Gaara, Sasuke and Rock Lee were walking up the long steps to the throne room. "Sure are a lot of steps, back when I was training with Gai sensei we would walk up three times this many steps!" Lee pumped out his arms as if to show his enthusiasm.

"Can you guys take this seriously?" Sokka asked.

"We are," Sasuke answered. "That's how Lee always acts." Sokka just rolled his eyes and kept walking. Reaching the top of the stairs they saw what looked like a man being dragged up suddenly by chains before disappearing.

"That was General Hao!" Sokka whispered to them as he hid behind one of the many pillars. "The coup is happening right now; we've got to warn the earth king!" The others nodded and they quickened their pace.

Passing through a very large fancy doorway they reached the King's throne room. "There they are!" Sokka yelled out at the two girls dressed as Kyoshi warriors. "Thank goodness were in time." He took a fighting stance and the others followed.

"In time for what?" The earth king asked confused.

One of the fake Kyoshi warriors did a front-flip and landed right in front of Sokka, "Yeah, what are you in time for?" She asked him seductively. Sokka looked uncomfortable but before he could move Toph earth-bended the ground beneath her feet sending her flying up into the air.

"They're not the real Kyoshi warriors!" Toph cried out. The earth king gasped.

"Sorry to disappoint you!" The fake Kyoshi warrior (AKA Mai) said before throwing three of her daggers straight at Toph. The earth-bender created a small rock shield that stopped the daggers. Toph then used her defensive offensively as she threw the rock shield straight at Mai who jumped in the air to avoid it.

Suddenly eight Dai Li agents dropped from the ceiling. Looking identical in their green outfits they simultaneously threw a rock hand at one of the five. They were all avoided however narrowly but this caused Toph to turn her attention to the Dai Li. She responded to their attack with one of her own. Large spikes from the ceiling rained down upon them.

With Toph distracted Mai sent another flurry of daggers her way but halfway there they were swallowed up by what seemed to be a swirling mass of sand. Her eyes lit up in surprise and followed the sand back to its master: Gaara. He looked at her with his usual glare as he summoned more sand to cover him.

Mai glared back and this time threw six daggers at Gaara determined to hit him. However Gaara's sand shield prevented even one from reaching him. Gritting her teeth this time the dark-haired girl broke out into a run towards her target.

The red-haired teen watched as the girl ran straight for him but then jumped over him and shot two more daggers at the top of his skull. The daggers got closer then before but were still stopped by the boy's sand shield. Acting quickly Gaara used his sand to grab Mai by her left arm and right leg. Unable to move and out of daggers she was unable to stop him as he flung her hard against a nearby pillar. Her body slammed into the pillar which cracked from the hit.

Meanwhile Ty Lee was attempting to jab at Sokka's pressure points. "It looks like we're dancing!" She told him with a giggle. Her giggling stopped abruptly as she pulled back her hand a split second before something collided with where it had been. Looking down at the ground she saw Rock Lee's leg. He had launched a kick from mid-air that had cracked the ground itself, and probably would've done the same to her hand.

"Please stop with your attack," He asked her nicely as he pulled his leg back. "I do not want to fight you."

Ty Lee was surprised but quickly regained her composure, "Sorry cutie, but I have to do what Azula says." She winked at him.

"I will not allow you to cause anymore harm," he said as he took a fighting stance. "I am the handsome beast Rock Lee, and I will be your opponent."

The brunette smiled, "My name is Ty Lee, nice ta meetcha."

"I'm…just going to go help Toph…" Sokka said to nobody in particular.

The two fighters didn't even hear him as he walked away. They looked at each other for a moment before Ty Lee's sent a whirlwind kick aimed at Rock Lee's head. He ducked down and kicked at the remaining hand keeping her on the ground. At the last second however she used all her force to push herself up through her hand and avoided the kick.

Not stopping there Ty Lee flipped back over into a standing position and continued her attack. She attacked furiously as he managed to avoid her hits. She was trying to hit specific points not just anywhere on his body so it made it slightly easier to avoid.

However what Rock Lee didn't know what Ty Lee was slowly moving him backwards to the wall. A sudden kick from the gymnast caused Bushy-brows to jump backwards only to hit the wall in surprise. That split second was all she needed however as Ty Lee started jabbing Rock Lee over and over again in all his pressure points.

However after the fifth one he grabbed both her hands with his own bandaged ones. She looked up in surprise when she realized he hadn't fallen over, he didn't even appear fazed! "H-How?"

"Sorry but Gai-sensei taught me how to withstand such attacks. They will have no affect on me at all." He then kneed her in the stomach hard. She gasped out in pain and Rock Lee let go. She fell to the ground holding her stomach.

While his two companions were fighting Sasuke had sensed a third female. Activating his sharingan his searched the room for her location. A minute later a beautiful female wearing the Dai Li outfit with dark black hair grabbed the king by his neck and pointed a finger at the king. The finger to Sasuke's surprise had a burning blue flame above it not an inch from the King's throat. "Stop your attack or—"

However before she could finish her threat a 'poof' sound and some smoke appeared. Looking down Azula noticed her captive was gone; replaced by a block of…wood? She turned and saw the king standing safely next to the last Uchiha.

"Looking for him?" Sasuke asked with a smirk. Azula looked absolutely furious.

"If you're looking to die, you've asked the right person!" She screamed before pushing out her fist unleashing a cone of fire. Sasuke quickly grabbed the king and moved him to the back of the room.

"Get out. Now." He told him without a second glance. The man quickly obeyed and left the room. However he didn't get far as three Dai Li agents were waiting for him. He tried to turn back but they quickly used earth bending to cuff him and dragged him back into the room.

"Come back here!" Azula yelled at Sasuke as she shot a wave of fire from each fist. He avoided them and headed back towards her.

* * *

"Aang!" Katara cried out as she took notice of her recently appeared friend. He had just used his earth-bending to bust into the catacombs where Katara and Zuko were being held and Iroh was right behind him followed by two girls and a blonde guy.

She ran over and gave him a hug. Zuko looked on in confusion when suddenly Iroh came over and gave him a hug. "Aang, I knew you would come." Katara greeted her bald friend.

"Uncle," Zuko said. "I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?"

"Saving you, that's what." Aang told him.

Zuko grunted and moved to attack but Iroh held him back. "Zuko," he told him. "It's time we talked." He turned to Katara and the others, "You go catch up with your other friends." Aang nodded in understanding.

"No wait! I need her help!" Zuko yelled out before they left.

"What are you talking about Nephew?"

"I need her stupid water-magic thing."

Aang looked at Katara confused; wondering what Zuko could be talking about. She spoke up, "Why don't you come out of here with us? It'll be a lot safer with two more if we run into Azula. We'll just give you a minute to talk okay?"

Iroh nodded his understanding. Katara however turned to look at Suki, Tenten and Naruto. "Suki!" She said as she hugged the other girl. "What are you doing here? And who are these two?"

"I'm Naruto," The blonde said.

"And I'm Tenten," The brunette girl told her.

"It's a long story Katara," Suki told her. "Let it wait till we get out of here." Katara agreed; they had enough to worry about at the moment.

Iroh was at that moment telling Zuko something very important. "You are not the man you used to be Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been! And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny! It's time for you to choose; it's time for you to choose…good."

But before Zuko could respond a huge earthquake shook the entire city. Everyone in the catacombs fell to the ground and huge green crystals fell to the floor. The earthquake only lasted for a few minutes and as it finished everyone stood back up. The dust cleared and they all noticed a huge wall had been destroyed creating an opening.

The seven people walked over silently and noticed a huge room covered in debris. Clearly the palace had fallen underground with the earthquake. Eight people could be seen trying to recover from the fall: Sasuke, Rock Lee, Gaara, Toph, Sokka, Azula, Ty Lee and Mai.

It started as a quiet chuckle; something Naruto thought he was imagining. But instead of going away it just got louder. Soon it became a hysterical laugh and when he looked around it wasn't hard to find its source. Standing in a hidden doorway surrounded by fire nation warriors stood the laughing man. His sickly pale face stretched as his mouth opened wide laughing. The laughing eventually died and he looked at Sasuke specifically though he spoke to all.

"Hello children."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger.**


	7. Erupting Battle

**A/N: It's been a while, but here's chapter 7. This chapter is kind of one big fight, which turned out to be alot harder than i thought. Mainly because i didn't realize i had about 16 different people fighting at the same time. So yeah, apologies, I don't have alot of experience with fight scenes. In fact there were so many fights that I showed only parts of certain fights so to not bore me (or drive myself insane). You'll understand when you read it.**

The Fate of Our World chapter 7

"It's nice to see your still well Sasuke," Orochimaru uttered. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to your body. I'll be needing it after all…" Nobody said anything. The room was deathly quiet as everyone else in the room was quite confused.

Orochimaru was standing on a pile of rubble in the far side of the destroyed room. After the earthquake, the entire palace had fallen underground and Naruto and friends had gone to see what had happened. They came across their friends Sasuke, Gaara, Rock lee, Sokka and Toph in the wreck along with three other girls. All eight appeared to be fine for the moment but in such a mass of destruction it was hard to verify anything.

Orochimaru was not alone either, standing behind him were five fire nation troops each dressed for combat. Looking further you could see they were standing in a premade tunnel that was unharmed by the earthquake. The sound of footsteps could be heard coming from the tunnel and as they got closer a young man appeared. It was none other than Kabuto who stood at his master's side.

"Your goal Sasuke," Orochimaru continued not noticing the silence. "Is to kill your brother to avenge your clan. Join with me and I will grant you the power you desire."

"Never! I am not weak enough to sell you my body for power! I can get it without your help." Sasuke told him as he stood up proudly from the wreckage.

Orochimaru sighed and shook his head, "Tsk, tsk Sasuke. You still don't understand do you? I already own your body. I've owned it since the day I marked you with the curse mark on your shoulder."

At that moment Sasuke felt the mark pulse beneath his shirt. Unable to stop himself he found his arm pushing down on the mark. "The mark was my gift, but without my training to control it—"

"Enough of this foolishness!" Azula yelled at the man as she walked over towards him. "Who are you and what are you doing here? You've put my entire plan in jeopardy and when my father hears about this…" A sting of pain interrupted Azula and she put a well manicured hand to her face she felt a large cut dripping blood.

"Quiet you annoying girl," Orochimaru yelled at her. "Or I will have Kabuto teach you some manners." Kabuto cracked his knuckles behind him.

At this Azula was absolutely fuming as she grinded her teeth together and clenched her fists. Her eyes caught the soldiers behind Orochimaru, "Soldiers! I am princess Azula and I command you arrest this man for attacking me!" However none of the soldiers moved to attack or for that matter did anything at all.

"What are you waiting for?" She screamed at them. "You will pay for your insubordination! But for now I'll do it myself!" She broke out into a run and bended some lightning in her right hand which she shot straight at the man fueling her rage.

However the lightning did not reach its target as one of the soldiers stepped up and redirected it away from Orochimaru. "The reason," Orochimaru started to speak. "They will not follow you orders is because you're a lower rank than I am. They have been ordered to follow any of my orders and protect me with their lives."

"But you shouldn't worry about your plans for this city, as we speak my soldiers are taking control of it. In a few hours this city will belong to the fire nation."

"We won't let you get away with that!" Aang yelled at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru spared a glance at the newcomer to the conversation as if he hadn't realized he was there. "Ah, the Avatar. Surely your own body would make a good host transfer. I would so like to…examine it." At this Aang shuddered.

"Hey Ugly!" Toph yelled at Orochimaru as she slammed her foot down on the ground. "You keep your hands OFF of Twinkle-toes!"

"Twinkle-what?" Orochimaru shook his head. "Never mind," he said before snapping his fingers.

"What do you want Orochimaru?" Naruto yelled at him.

"The fire lord has hired the sound to take over this worthless city in his name," he said. "And to do that I'll need to kill all of you." And at that three more fighters appeared in front of him. The first was a boy with white hair and a purple shirt; the second was a female with red hair and glasses and the last was…

"Jet?" Katara cried out at the sight of the third boy. "Is that you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Katara," he said coolly. "In fact, thanks to Orochimaru I'm much better than fine."

"I thought you hated the fire nation Jet," Zuko questioned him. "Why are you siding with him? He just told us he works for my father!"

Jet chuckled, "Of course I still hate the fire nation. I always will, I swear it! Orochimaru's plans are more complex than you could imagine; this is just a small step to take in destroying them. Not to mention this is an opportunity to destroy both the fire lord's son and daughter!"

"I don't know who you are," Sasuke stated. "But Orochimaru will just use you too." And while their conversation was going on Azula was pulling Mai and Ty Lee out of the wreckage.

"Wake up," She said slapping them. "Wake up! Damn it, they're out cold!" Pushing their unconscious bodies up against a nearby wall she knew she would have to do this alone.

"Your outnumbered, Orochimaru!" Naruto yelled at the strange man. "Just tell your lackeys to back down and this won't have to get ugly."

"Am I, Naruto? A decaying wall falls to only one swift stroke. Kabuto! Karin!" Suddenly Kabuto and the girl with glasses now identified as Karin appeared in front of Gaara.

Using faster than human speed she formed multiple hand signs and then struck her hands out facing Gaara at the palm. "Arcane torrent!" She yelled out and a sliver of blue seemed to streak the area.

Coming up quick behind her was Kabuto. His left arm gripped his right arm tightly which was glowing red at the fingertips with chakra. Gaara tried to call out his sand but something was wrong; it wouldn't come! Gaara was laid defenseless as Kabuto slammed his fingers into Gaara's stomach and wrenching left.

"Aaahhh!" Gaara screamed as Kabuto pulled out and jumped back.

"Gaara!" Naruto screamed as he ran forward to help his friend. The red-headed boy's hands gripped the sides of his head; his fingertips dug into his scalp. Naruto tried to grab hold of Gaara's arm but Gaara pushed him away with a demonic arm. Naruto blinked and looked again; Gaara's arm was normal but a moment ago it had resembled the demon inside the boy.

"What did you do to him?" Naruto yelled at Kabuto.

"Feeling a little helpless Naruto?" Orochimaru chided him. "Arcane torrent is a move I taught Karin myself. She is able to momentarily stop a person's chakra or bending within their body for a small amount of time. Gaara was unable to summon the sand he relies on so much which made him easy prey for Kabuto's seal."

"What's it doing to him?" Tenten asked as she watched the energy around Gaara react violently. His sand had returned and it was now swirling violently and seemingly uncontrollably.

"Let's just say I made a hole," Kabuto said as he adjusted his glasses. "And now Gaara will have to use everything he has just to hold himself together."

As Orochimaru listened he bit open his thumb, made a few hand signs and thrust his hand at the ground initiating a summoning. A poof of smoke later and Orochimaru was 20 feet higher riding on his giant snake, Manda.

Sokka stared at the snake wide-eyed, "Holy crap! Is that thing for real?"

"Naruto!" Sasuke said as he tried to get the blonde's attention. "We have to attack together now before he takes out anymore of us."

"Right!" He turned to look at their strange group. "Guys I know we don't all know each other but we have to stop Orochimaru if we want to get out of here."

"Guards," Orochimaru commanded. "Attack!" At that moment the five fire nation guards ran to attack but were stopped at the sight of a twelve-foot wall of earth about to crush them.

Running to the left to avoid a horrible death the five found their feet frozen in ice. Looking up they saw Katara facing them ready to fight in her octopus attack maneuver.

At the same time Naruto had made about fifty shadow clones of himself and charged Orochimaru. They didn't get far however as Orochimaru jumped off Manda and had the giant snake attack. It was only too easy for him to crush most of the clones with a mere body slam.

Then Sasuke, Azula and Aang all attacked the sound leader at once. Using a quick speed jutsu he was able to dodge their attacks and reposition himself in the middle of the battlefield. A quick glance around showed the battle had indeed started and no one was left out.

"Aww man," Naruto whined. "Not another giant snake!" He said remembering his first fight with Orochimaru. Thinking up an idea he formed another clone only to have it immediately destroyed by a kunai to the head.

Surprised enough to look behind him he barely managed to avoid a second kunai by jumping back. It was then followed up by a kick to the head that seemed to come out of nowhere. However the one-second glance Naruto got showed him the kick had come from Kabuto.

He had hit the ground hard but instead of standing up he flipped over to avoid decapitation. He was being attacked continuously so he didn't have time to think. And it was working. The blonde was managing to not get himself but that wasn't good enough as Manda had finished his clones off and was coming for him.

Manda was getting closer and closer until suddenly Rock Lee appeared and kicked him straight in the head. "Yes! Alright Naruto I'll take care of the giant snake; you hold off Kabuto!" He turned back and ran straight for Manda.

"You got it fuzzy-brows!" He yelled back as he jumped back to avoid being sliced in the stomach. He wasn't fully successful as Kabuto's kunai managed to rip a gaping hole in his orange vest. "Not the jacket!"

Now a bit pissed off Naruto met Kabuto's attack head on and grabbed the incoming Kunai and sent a kick at the man's stomach. The Kunai drew some blood from Naruto's palm as it stabbed down but Naruto's kick managed to hit before Kabuto withdrew with a back flip.

Gaining the moment to think he needed Naruto started running in the opposite direction and pulled off his ripped vest. Turning around he saw Kabuto was already headed for him. _Oh crap_, he thought. _I need a plan!_ Not sure what to do Naruto summoned four more clones.

Meanwhile Sokka was bothering his sister. "Katara, psst!" She slammed another fire nation soldier to the ground with her water-whip.

"What is it Sokka? I'm kinda busy right now."

"I don't know what I should do; these guys are way out of my league!"

"You're supposed to be the brains, why don't you find us an exit."

He quickly dodged the body of a soldier that she had thrown at him. "Exit? There's no exit! This place is caved in on all sides; we can't even get Appa to fly in and save us."

"Well then be creative. Why don't you build a bomb or something?"

"A bomb? How am I-"But Sokka cut off his own sentence when he realized his sister was a little busy. "Alright I'll just get right on that…" He said as he quietly crept away.

"Give it up whoever you are!" Aang threatened Orochimaru. "You're outnumbered!" He said as both Sasuke and Azula prepared to attack the sound leader alongside himself.

"Silly boy," Orochimaru replied. "Three verses one is the same as three verses three," He said before a volley of hand signs passed by his hands before ending on the tiger form. "Tri-form!" And before their eyes two more Orochimaru's seemed to rip themselves out of the original. It looked quite painful.

_Is he using the shadow clone jutsu like Naruto_? Sasuke wondered. _It seems different and that's not what it's called. _

"T-There are t-two more of you?" Aang asked in shock. Azula also seemed surprised.

"Is that a shadow-clone jutsu?" Sasuke asked out loud.

Orochimaru shook his head, "No Sasuke. This is the tri-form; shadow clones are obsolete in comparison. My power is equally divided amongst all three and they can't be 'dispelled' by injuries; only killed."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Why are your arms working Orochimaru? I heard they had been broken beyond repair when you killed the Hokage."

"Always the thinker Sasuke," Orochimaru chuckled. "And your right. Unfortunately when you didn't comply right away I had to find another body to sustain myself. His arms were working fine however so it's no trouble."

"And the best part was the ability he left in these arms. But enough talk, the night grows late and I have much to do." At that all three Orochimaru's pulled shot out their arms a wave of blue fire at each of the three.

"So he's a fire-bender," Azula muttered after avoiding Orochimaru's attack and landing on her feet. "Then let's see whose fire is stronger!" She yelled out at the Orochimaru who she was fighting before unleashing a huge wave of blue fire at him.

The fire never reached him however as Orochimaru unleashed his own wave with only one hand. The two blasts met somewhere between them and fought to see which was stronger. "Don't underestimate me little girl," Orochimaru told her. "I'm not just a fire-bender."

"Wha-?" She said before looking down to see the ground itself had cemented itself over her feet; stopping her from moving away. With her attention divided Orochimaru shot out a wave of flame from his other hand which made his blast twice as huge.

His huge blast overtook the fire princess whose own fire was no match. Unable to move Azula was consumed by Orochimaru's flames. Covering her face with her arms she tried to use her own flames to shield herself but to little avail.

With her eyes closed Azula never saw as Orochimaru appeared mere inches from her and kicked her straight into the wall. He then proceeded to pummel her with his fists. His attacks actually put out the fire but she was having a hard time trying to take control of the situation.

She managed a kick out with her left leg which Orochimaru elegantly avoided with a back-flip. Taking advantage of him not being in her face Azula ran off to her left. Avoiding some of the other fighters she sent the occasional blast of fire in Orochimaru's direction in order to keep him at bay.

Stopping for a moment to take a breath she was assaulted by seven shuriken flying through the air towards her from the right. Jumping to the left she managed to avoid the shuriken only to fall in Orochimaru's trap.

As she jumped to avoid the shuriken she fell into a prison made of earth Orochimaru had made. There were no prison bars but earth completely covering all six sides. She attempted to fire-bend her way out but was getting any results and noticed the walls were closing in on her. At first she none of the walls were touching her and she had room to move but soon she could barely move at all.

Outside of the trap Orochimaru was admiring his handiwork. He knew she would soon be squished to nothing and he could move on. The trap got smaller and smaller until it suddenly exploded.

"What the…" Orochimaru covered his eyes to avoid the blast. Looking back a moment later and he saw the raven-haired girl fall out unconscious. _Not bad_, Orochimaru thought. _She created a bomb out of fire so when the sides touched it the whole thing exploded. _

He walked over to her unconscious body. _Foolish of course, since she took herself out along with the trap. Either way I still win. _

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"Why…can't…I…hit…you!" Toph yelled out at Suigetsu as she unleashed another attack with every word. She found she was unable to hurt her opponent because every attack with her earth-bending was ineffective. Suigetsu could reduce his body to water and had been playing defense the entire fight. Toph was sweating and breathing heavily.

After her last attack he reformed again and ran straight for her. Enlarging his hand to the size of a giant mallet Suigetsu launched it straight at Toph. Barely managing to create an earth shield in time Toph was still thrown back a few feet and landed on her butt.

"Oww…" She complained before attempting to get back to her feet. Suigetsu smiled at her as he drew ever nearer. She racked her brain but couldn't think of anything that would work when suddenly a voice cried out to her.

"Toph!" Katara called out as she ran over to help the younger girl. Katara stood behind Suigetsu who was between the girls. "I know what to do Toph, attack him from above one more time!"

Toph wasn't sure what Katara was thinking but she didn't have any better ideas. "You got it…sugar queen."

Suigetsu groaned in complaint, "What are you stupid? That's what she's been doing the whole fight new girl and it won't work." As he finished a huge boulder fell from the ceiling and landed on him. He didn't even try to avoid it and instead turned to liquid.

Moving away from the boulder he started to reform and it was then that Katara unleashed her attack. Unleashing the water she kept in her water pouch it covered Suigetsu's unformed self and started swirling upwards into a tornado of water. Too dizzy to think clearly Suigetsu was unable to reform. A moment later the water suddenly stopped as Katara froze the entire thing. Suigetsu was frozen solid unformed inside a block of ice.

"Katara, that was awesome." Toph said, giving out a rare compliment.

"Thanks Toph," The water-bender said with a smile. "But unfortunately that's all my water. If I take it back he'll reform and attack us again so for now I'm defenseless."

"It's cool. Why don't you go help Sokka? I saw him earlier hitting the back wall with his boomerang. I'm…not really sure why."

Katara laughed. "Probably trying to find a way out. Anyway…" Her sentence was cut off by the sound of a crash and the whole room shaking. "It's that giant snake," She said with a hint of fear. "This whole room is unstable, if it crashes into that wall again this whole place could come down!"

"Alright I'll go help that weird guy in green and kick that snake's butt!" Toph told her before running off. Katara nodded knowing she wouldn't be able to stop Toph even if she wanted to.

As Toph approached the snake she saw that it was about to strike the boy in green again. Rock-lee was quite the fighter; but giant purple snakes named Manda were not his specialty.

His attacks did little damage to the mighty creature; even after taking off his weights! That wasn't the big problem however. Manda's fangs were the problem; they could temporarily paralyze an opponent. Lee had been bitten in his left arm which should've paralyzed his entire body but he was able to keep it locked inside his arm. Unfortunately Manda later bit him in the right leg.

And now Rock Lee could barely stand. All of his energy was put into keeping the paralysis from completely encompassing him. As the giant snake pulled its head back to strike Rock Lee could only think how disappointed his sensei would be if he were to die here.

However before Manda could strike a huge rock collided with its face. Looking to see where it came from Lee spotted the young girl Toph standing tall with her hands on her hips. "Hope you don't mind, but I've always wanted to kill a giant snake." She told him. Lee smiled as he told her he didn't mind and watched as she prepared for another strike.

"I give up! I give up!" Karin cried out to her attackers. Suki had pinned her down while Tenten pointed one of her numerous weapons (this one a pole-arm) at Karin's throat.

"That wasn't too hard," Tenten said as she bound Karin's arms and legs. "We make a pretty good team, don't you think?"

Suki nodded, "Yeah, I'd like to learn where you got all those weapons from." Tenten laughed awkwardly at that.

"Must…keep…control…" Gaara muttered under his breath as his fingernails ripped at the flesh of his own arms. He had spent the entire fight sitting on the ground making sure the tailed beast inside of him didn't escape.

"Won't …let…" He breathed for the first time in a minute as his eyes rolled in the back of his head. "…lose…control. Naruto said…" An image of Naruto popped in his head. "Not…monster…no!" He shouted the last word as the creature's arm replaced his and it shot out into the midst of the fight.

Elsewhere Kabuto smirked as he pushed his glasses up closer to his face. Finally catching Naruto in a moment of helplessness he drove his weapon down toward his opponent's throat. However the weapon didn't reach as Gaara's arm shot out and slammed Kabuto straight into the wall.

Grabbing a kunai from his pouch Gaara stabbed down onto his arm. A scream escaped his lips as the blade hit and the arm retracted to normal. Kabuto fell to the floor along with some debris; he was dazed but certainly alive. He stood up and continued his fight with Naruto.

Gaara gritted his teeth as he pulled the kunai back out of his arm. Taking a deep breath he felt the monster inside of him retract. _Subdued_…He thought. _I did it_. His mouth tried to smile but instead his eyes closed and he hit the floor unconscious.

Not doing quite as well as some of his friends Aang fell ten feet onto the floor. "Ughh…" He groaned in pain as he stood up. Looking up he could see Orochimaru standing on the wall as if it wasn't against the law of gravity. His hands were crossed and he seemed amused if not a little bored.

"Aang!" Katara yelled as she ran over.

"What is it Katara?"

"We need to get out of here Aang! More soldiers keep appearing and were taking casualties. You mastered the Avatar state with the Guru right? Do you think you could use that power to find us a way out?"

Aang nodded at his friend. It was true; he had mastered the Avatar state. He was very hesitant at the time to give up Katara but the Guru was very persuasive and Aang eventually gave in.

Sitting himself in a meditative position Aang concentrated as he tried to bring out the Avatar state. Katara stood over him watching as his tattoos and eyes lit up blue. Orochimaru had been watching too; curious to see the effects of the Avatar state.

Focusing his power on the nearest wall Avatar state Aang concentrated his power into digging a hole straight through to the other side. As the tiny hole became visible Aang then started to slowly expand it, bigger and bigger.

Meanwhile Sasuke continued to stand his ground against Orochimaru. Sasuke had for the first time unleashed his stage two of the curse mark. His monster like body and the strange wing-like appendages allowed him to float in mid-air against the third Sannin who was doing the same.

"Excellent Sasuke," Orochimaru complimented him. "You've managed to activate the second stage of your curse mark all by yourself. You know, ever since I marked you in the forest of death I've felt a bit like a father watching his son grow-"

"-Shut up! You're not my father!" Sasuke yelled at him.

"…Nevertheless Sasuke, you've shown that you're capable of great power. However you should be aware that I've only been toying with you up to this point. Seeing your improvements and your faults. But it seems playtime is over."

The sound of an explosion drew Sasuke's attention away from Orochimaru. Looking to his left he saw a giant hole had been made in one of the walls and the others were using it to escape.

"Sasuke!" Tenten yelled up at him. "We have to go! Come on!" She yelled at him. Sasuke noticed she was carrying an unconscious Naruto on her back.

"I'm coming! Go on ahead, I'll grab anyone left and follow you!" He yelled back and Tenten nodded.

"Guards!" Orochimaru yelled, "Stop them!" And twenty more soldiers appeared. On the ground Aang still in Avatar mode was trying to fight off the soldiers while holding the gate open. He had given his whistle to Katara who had called for Appa.

Suki and Tenten had found Toph unconscious near the corpse of the giant snake and carried her out onto Appa. Katara was currently trying to support a limping Zuko while looking for anyone else when the extra soldiers appeared.

"Oh no," She mumbled to herself as the guards started fire-bending at them. "We have to go now!" Aang heard her and air-bended an enormous wind that knocked all the fire-benders away. Picking up Katara and Zuko she carried them onto Appa where Tenten was waiting for Sasuke to get back with the others.

As soon as Aang set everybody down the Avatar state gave out and he went back to normal for a moment before falling unconscious. "Alright Appa," Sokka said as he held the reins. "Yip, yip!"

And with those two words Appa lifted up and flew away from the carnage. "No!" Tenten cried out. "We have to go back! My friends are still in there!"

"I'm sorry," Sokka said. "But…we can't."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's too late Sasuke!" Orochimaru said as the other two half's of him molded back into one. "Your friends are gone, you can't escape now. Just surrender and I promise to give you the strength to defeat your brother!"

"Never!" Sasuke said as he started to charge a Chidori. "I'd rather die than join you!"

Orochimaru sighed, "Fine, Kabuto!" he yelled out and a moment later a battle-worn but still alive Kabuto showed up.

"Yes Lord Orochimaru?"

"The boy?"

Kabuto nodded and snapped his fingers. A moment later two soldiers came out carrying Shino. He looked horrible. Clothes torn, bruises covering his body and blood everywhere. "Shino?" Sasuke said with a slight gasp.

"Give up Sasuke," Orochimaru ordered him. "Or else…" And with those two words a sword was drawn to Shino's open throat.

"Shit…" And with that Sasuke dropped to the ground and his curse mark retracted. A small smile reached the madman's lips before he appeared right behind Sasuke and hit him hard across the back of his head. He didn't make a sound as he fell into the man's arms unconscious.

"Kabuto what losses have we suffered?"

"Jet was pierced through the stomach and is in critical condition. Karin and Suigetsu are fine but Manda is dead. Also some guards are dead."

"This has been a long day," The man sighed as he gripped his forehead.

"What about the others, sir?" Kabuto asked.

"Hmmm," Orochimaru mused. "Well I could always use them in some of your experiments. Take them as prisoners." Kabuto nodded and waited until his master left. Covering the entire battleground he found the unconscious bodies of Gaara, Rock Lee, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. He went quickly about his business knowing Orochimaru would need him to finish what was left of the takeover of Ba-Sing-Se.

**A/N: Before anyone gets mad I just wanted to say that the Zuko vs Jet fight will be shown via flashback in the next chapter so don't worry. Also Toph vs giant snake (probably). Feedback would be nice since I've never done that kind of huge fight before, no need to flame me though; however i am open to suggestions/criticism. **


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